It’s been a long time coming, but we’re glad its happening. T-Mobile is working on an App Store clone. Apparently, the store will allow all T-Mobile users, irrespective of the device they use, to purchase apps from this “t store”. So there’ll be an SDK, there will be an app submission, pricing, and revenue process for developers, the works.

The payment will be a little more complicated than Apple’s straightforward, no questions asked 30% commission. But it will still be generously rewarding for the developers. And a developer site is already in place.

For T-Mobile, which has only about 31.5 million subscribers against AT&T’s staggering 72.9 million, the App Store clone could well be a survival strategy, especially since Apple has just extended its exclusivity agreement with AT&T recently.

So far, it all sounds like just another clone effort, so why is this good news? For two reasons:

• Competitors struggling against the onslaught of the iPhone are beginning to realize that this is about software, not touchscreens, and not hardware.
• For customers who have been traditionally restricted to very few choices by carriers, the ability to customize, to choose what they want on their devices, and the ability to enjoy genuine mobile computing is a welcome change.

And also, while I love all things Apple, and especially the iPhone, I guess having an  alternative to AT&T has to be a good thing.