New Report Predicts Sprint, T-Mobile Will Get the New iPhone
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Posted July 12, 2011 at 6:27pm by iClarified
Piper Jaffray analyst Chris Larsen believes that Apple's next generation iPhone will be offered on Sprint and T-Mobile, reports CNET.
"While we remain uncertain regarding the next-generation iPhone's specs and features, we believe the most noteworthy change could be the device's ability to run on more networks, specifically Sprint and T-Mobile in the U.S," Larsen said in a research note today.
"Our belief is that if Apple is already going through the trouble to make a device that has the ability to work on both major network technologies, why not include all the necessary spectrum bands to make one device work on all carriers," Larsen said.
Last week, Citadel Securities analyst Shing Yin suggested that Sprint may carry the iPhone before the end of the year and ahead of the holiday season.
I'm not sure the author of the article understands the architecture of cellular networks. For example, even if the phone supports both CDMA and GSM, there are differences in broadband frequencies and use so unless the radio is unusually agile, GSM does not imply TMobile and ATT both. Cellular is a bitch to understand, and I suspect the authors are going on things like hardware parts etc, not radio specs.
Oh, and I forgot: ATT buying TMobile does not imply TMobile will get the iPhone.
First, the ATT GSM broadband is not standard, due to a weird FCC scheduling problem and ATT simply wanting to be contrary. TMo sticks to the european standard thus cannot use ATT broadband. Second, the purchase is an odd one with deutsche telekom retaining something like 49% of TMo stock. Its not your usual buyout.