Because it has rate plans and customer service that people want, we say. True, it does not currently offer the data rates or gear that is at the top of the heap, but it’s turning that around, rapidly. The news of CZJ being dropped, combined with its bandwidth purchase, were the first signs that it was getting aggressive in the GSM market. The uber-sexy phones it’s about to drop in the next few months up that OMG factor. The UMA tests it’s been conducting are pioneering in their own right, and worthy of mention.

If T-Mobile drops the “Get More” crap, keeps up with the hot hardware, and manages to really kick ass with their newly-purchased 3G spectrum, then we’re not just looking at a new T-Mobile, we’re looking at the first American network that could rival those geek dreamscapes of Korea and Japan.

Apple, hey! Apple! Are you sure you want to be stuck with Cingular right now? Because we wouldn’t. Look for the phrase “The New T-Mobile” soon.