“Sprint Nextel Corp. said it is free to offer a potential future Apple Inc. iPhone using the faster mobile broadband network known as 4G LTE,” Greg Bensinger reports for Dow Jones Newswires.
“Sprint Chief Financial Officer Joe Euteneuer declined to say if Apple has such an iPhone planned,” Bensinger reports. “The carrier plans to introduce the 4G LTE network in only six cities by midyear.”
Bensinger reports, “Nonetheless, Euteneuer said Tuesday at an investor conference that Sprint’s Apple contract is similar to those of rivals AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless, and that the carrier isn’t being held to any 4G LTE coverage requirements. In comparison, the other two carriers have rolled out 4G LTE to large swaths of the country.”
Read more in the full article here.
Sprint used Clear’s wiimax. I remember when sprints commercials said the first 4G network. Not anymore.
Ummmm, what about the UK?????
On a side note, I’m very curious about the future growth of Apple’s iPhone 5 with LTE capabilities. I’d really like for an educated analyst knowledgeable on this subject to layout which international economies telecom infrastructure can support LTE?
China Mobile is the sleeping dragon for AAPL shareholders. Once Apple can tap into that 660 million customer market China Mobile sustains, sell volumes will go through the roof; and the stock will shortly follow.
Question remains: Does China Mobile have an extenstive or existing LTE infrastructure that can be compatible with a future LTE iPhone 5? Link me that article and I’ll be a pig in slop. 🙂
The China tech board (can’t remember the name) has already approved iPhone with China Mobil’s version of 3G called, I think TD-CDMA. There is a LTE version of China Mobil’s home grown 4G standard, and the iPhone hasn’t been approved for it, but rumors suggest Apple is in negotiations with China Mobil to get it done. Don’t know how extensive their LTE service is at this time.
To clarify (as I understand the situation) China Mobil’s network is using home grown versions of 3G and 4GLTE world standards. At one time, the Chinese government was hoping that their TD-CDMA (3G) would become a world standard, but no one else adopted it. I believe China Mobil has areas of their network that are GSM compatible, and this is how bootleg iPhones are working on their network. For Apple to offer China Mobil an iPhone to sell, it must have CM’s home grown network standards included. Hopefully, someone else can clarify and expand or correct this statement.
One more thing, the reason Apple hasn’t sold the iPhone to China Mobil isn’t technical, it’s because CM hasn’t agreed to Apple’s rather stringent terms (Apple’s not sharing the App store profits, for one). Apple & CM have been in on-again, off-again negotiations since the iPhone’s release. Rumors suggest most of the major road blocks have been overcome and a contract is coming soon.