[Rumor] Unlocked 3G iPhone will still be an AT&T iPhone

[idavid]

http://blogs.zdnet.com/mobile-gadgeteer/?p=1046

Read the Post,
Q. Will 3G iPhone be useless on USA Tmobile 3G Network?



Saul Hansell wrote up a good response to the $199 iPhone rumor. He stated that the report may actually mean that AT&T wants to lower the price of the iPhone and raise the price of data plans and/or Apple will start selling unlocked phones. However, even if the 3G iPhone is sold as an unlocked device, it will most likely only be usable in 3G mode with AT&T in the United States.

AT&T uses the 850/1900 MHz frequency spectrum for 3G data (850 MHz for voice). The only other major GSM carrier in the U.S., T-Mobile, hasn’t yet rolled out its 3G network, but when it does (rumors indicated the switch may be flipped tomorrow) it will use the 1700 MHz spectrum for download and 2100 MHz for upload (850/1900 for voice) and thus no AT&T capable 3G devices will give you full 3G data access with T-Mobile. You may get EDGE (2.5G) data access and you will be able to make and receive calls though.

Also, Europe and other countries use a 2100 MHz frequency for high speed data, but even then this is different than the U.S. T-Mobile spectrum (now that can be confusing). Then we have Sprint, Alltel, and Verizon who are all CDMA carriers that have a completely different infrastructure and won’t be compatible with the 3G iPhone.

There is a slight possibility the 3G iPhone will have a tri-band 3G 2100 MHz radio and if that is the case then you could use 3G data in Europe and when you travel. It still will not work with T-Mobile’s network though and thus will have limited carrier support in the U.S. whether it is locked or unlocked. I suppose Apple could also add in another radio (and antenna) for T-Mobile USA, but since this is the smallest U.S. network and has its own band I don’t think I would get my hopes up for this scenario.

The next version of the iPhone will be a 3G iPhone and AT&T may raise the monthly data fee, however with Sprint and Verizon already offering 3G data at US$15 and US$30/month I don’t think AT&T can raise it too much more and remain competitive. Would they then have a standard iPhone data rate and a 3G iPhone data rate? We’ll just have to wait and see. I am sure we will continue to see lots of rumors as we wait over the next month or so for its release.

[thecompkid]

The iPhone is not going to be sold unlocked in the US at any point in the next 5 years due to an exclusivity agreement with AT&T. ATT had to bend over backwards for apple, restructuring their activation systems, beefing up their edge coverage, not to mention visual voicemail etc, and they are still paying apple monthly for each iphone. Exclusive rights are the only thing they are getting in return, so don't expect them to give in.

[radical]

Whatever hardware the iPhone 3G is going to have, it must certainly support European 3G data. For example, Italy is one of the largest cell phone markets in Europe and it is rumored that it will be one of the first countries to have the 3G iphone. I doubt that Apple will create different hardware versions of the iPhone for these different markets. That would just increase their manufacturing / support costs.

[idavid]

I assume DEV TEAM or ("Still Bored" Zibri) come up with a firmware patch for 3G to work on USA T-mobile 3Gnetwork ?

[jumphopspin]

I assume DEV TEAM or ("Still Bored" Zibri) come up with a firmware patch for 3G to work on USA T-mobile 3Gnetwork ?

highly doubtful. i don't think a radio is something you can hack. but i really hope that they can prove me wrong on this as i'm also a t-mobile customer. if all else fails, i might jump ship to at&t.. ):

[bigspoody]

So, I'm in Australia and heading to LA and NY from 7th -21st June.

If on sale i'd like to upgrade to the 3G version when i'm there, but it'll be locked to AT&T like the GSM version correct?

If so they'll be shipping different phones to different countries, because in Aus we already have 2 telecos that are selling the iphone.

Can anyone shed some possible scenarios on this?

thanks

[Wingdings]

I'm going to Japan in less than two weeks and I'm hoping they'll be stocking the 3G iPhone so that I can buy it while I'm there. With this new information about different 3G frequencies though, I am beginning to worry about a possible incompatibility between Japanese 3G frequencies and European (namely Scandinavian ones) frequencies. Could there be some truth to this or can I rest assured that there won't be any incompatibility?

[xcesivemastub8ah]

I'm going to Japan in less than two weeks and I'm hoping they'll be stocking the 3G iPhone so that I can buy it while I'm there. With this new information about different 3G frequencies though, I am beginning to worry about a possible incompatibility between Japanese 3G frequencies and European (namely Scandinavian ones) frequencies. Could there be some truth to this or can I rest assured that there won't be any incompatibility?

this isnt really news. this subject has been brought over and over before. they're not likely to make different spec iphones for different countries. the thing with t-mo USA's 3g network(which doesnt even exist yet) is that they are the only ones in the world using the AWS bands. the iphone 2.0 will have support for the PCS and cellular bansd that ATT uses for HSDPA along with the euro and asian UMTS bands. it's unlikely that apple will add support for a band that is only being used by one cell carrier in the world who also happens to NOT be the official carrier in its country. it would be interesting to see Apple try to explain it to ATT if they did, though.......

[snoslicer8]

Japan will be the one country that Apple builds a custom iPhone for. There is NO GSM network deployed in Japan, at all. The radio in current iPhones could not and will not communicate with any Japanese cell provider. Also, the voice radio on the 3G iPhone would have to be CDMA to work on a Japanese network.

Since Apple has already announced availability of the iPhone for Japan, it can be safely assumed that a special hardware build is already under the works.

[xcesivemastub8ah]

Japan will be the one country that Apple builds a custom iPhone for. There is NO GSM network deployed in Japan, at all. The radio in current iPhones could not and will not communicate with any Japanese cell provider. Also, the voice radio on the 3G iPhone would have to be CDMA to work on a Japanese network.

Since Apple has already announced availability of the iPhone for Japan, it can be safely assumed that a special hardware build is already under the works.
not excactly....

japan's network isnt EDGE or GSM 2G or cdma as you seem to believe it is. (it runs backwards to the US' sprint and verizon CDMA i.e. download is upload and upload is download, which is why your cdma phone wont work in japan nor vice versa), it is W-CDMA which is 3Gsm. The only difference between the W-CDMA used in Japan on DoCoMo and Softbank and the W-CDMA used on at&t, Vodaphone, Orange, Rogers etc. is the way the data is encoded. The antennas would work as long as they picked up the 2100 band (they will) and the firmware on the phone supported FOMA. voice calls are transfered through the 3g network. that's how you can roam in Japan on a 3g phone.