Sprint CEO Dan Hesse told Ina Fried of AllthingsD and other reporters who are touring Sprint's headquarters in Kansas that the iPhone is worth the billions that the carrier is spending on the device. According to Hesse, Sprint considered Apple's offer and "saw no reason to bet against Apple." In the end, the wireless carrier agreed to buy US$15.5 billion worth of iPhones over the next four years.

Agreeing to buy the iPhone is painful now for Sprint as the carrier tries to balance paying Apple and building out its LTE network at the same time. Hesse, though, believes this gamble will pay off as more and more customers decide to stick with carrier because they can get the iPhone.