With the arrival of the iPhone 4S, Sprint has joined Verizon Wireless and AT&T to become the third wireless carrier to support the iPhone. Sprint has waited four years for this opportunity, and some analysts with customers in the Midwest and among lower-income users.

Ironically, Sprint didn't crow about its big win; it didn't even issue a press release calling attention to the development on Tuesday.

"We are delighted to be part of this announcement," a Sprint spokeswoman said. "We will have more details to come shortly, but for today we would like to keep the focus on these exciting new devices that will be coming to Sprint customers."

Still, the iPhone's arrival on Sprint is significant, analysts said. "The iPhone 4S is a much bigger deal for Sprint than for Apple," said Kevin Burden, an analyst at ABI Research.