iPhone 5 models - which for telecom LTE compat?

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › iPhone 5 models - which for telecom LTE compat?

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

129 posts

Master Geek

ID Verified

#686594 16-Sep-2012 07:53

I still don't get why they released 3 versions of the phone. That's never been explained as far as I am aware.

Anyone have an idea why?

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

Behodar

10323 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#686596 16-Sep-2012 08:06

drquack32: I still don't get why they released 3 versions of the phone. That's never been explained as far as I am aware.

Anyone have an idea why?

My guess is that the "supports everything" chips used in the CDMA model are very expensive. Apple probably determined that it's cheaper to manufacture different models than it is to put the expensive chips in all of them.

code15

198 posts

Master Geek

#686627 16-Sep-2012 11:44

I did a search of spectrum licenses on http://www.rsm.govt.nz/cms

Vodafone have a heap of licenses in the 1800MHz band which is band 3 LTE. Telecom have no licenses in this range, and also hold no licenses in the 700MHz range.

Is this fairly solid confirmation that vodafone will roll out LTE on band 3? This means the iPhone 5 sold here will be compatible.

Does anyone know why Telecom have no LTE spectrum licenses, and what band they are planning to use for LTE?

Behodar

10323 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#686629 16-Sep-2012 11:47

code15: Does anyone know why Telecom have no LTE spectrum licenses, and what band they are planning to use for LTE?

I'd read that it's band 3 (1800 MHz) but I also could not find any licences. I'd also read that 2500 or 2600 MHz was a possibility but I couldn't find any licences in that range either.

Shock

534 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#686635 16-Sep-2012 12:33

code15: I did a search of spectrum licenses on http://www.rsm.govt.nz/cms

Vodafone have a heap of licenses in the 1800MHz band which is band 3 LTE. Telecom have no licenses in this range, and also hold no licenses in the 700MHz range.

Is this fairly solid confirmation that vodafone will roll out LTE on band 3? This means the iPhone 5 sold here will be compatible.

Does anyone know why Telecom have no LTE spectrum licenses, and what band they are planning to use for LTE?

My understanding was that the spectrum auctions have not taken place yet for LTE so there is no official spectrums as of yet.

Connecting to UFB? Go with Bigpipe and use this link for free credit!

Behodar

10323 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#686637 16-Sep-2012 12:37

My understanding is that there's no such thing as "LTE spectrum"; the auction is for the 700 MHz band and the auction winners can do whatever they like with it (in this case use it for LTE). I don't believe that there's anything stopping Telecom/Vodafone from deploying LTE in any spectrum that they have rights to.

knoydart

904 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#686661 16-Sep-2012 13:59

Behodar: My understanding is that there's no such thing as "LTE spectrum"; the auction is for the 700 MHz band and the auction winners can do whatever they like with it (in this case use it for LTE). I don't believe that there's anything stopping Telecom/Vodafone from deploying LTE in any spectrum that they have rights to.

You are right. There is nothing to stop Vodafone / Telecom / 2 degress from refarming their current spectrum holdings to use it for LTE services. The bigger question is which spectrum is being used internationally for LTE and refarming spectrum which allows users to have equipment to operate. As pointed out in a previous Telecom LTE thread, fragmentation of spectrum world wide is a massive problem which is going to become more apparent as people try to roam outside their country or region in the years to come. NZ with its size of market is a technology taker so we (well the operators) need to pick the right bands to refarm to allow smooth operation of LTE services (and beyond). The final thing to note with refarming is that you might leave people with feature phones left with no or minimal service. I understand Vodafone are keeping their 2g services going in some way shape and form for years to come as they have 100´s of 1000´s of GPRS type machine to machine connections going on.

drquack32

129 posts

Master Geek

ID Verified

#686662 16-Sep-2012 14:01

That's why the CDMA phone looks so appealing

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#686676 16-Sep-2012 14:31

code15: I did a search of spectrum licenses on http://www.rsm.govt.nz/cms

Vodafone have a heap of licenses in the 1800MHz band which is band 3 LTE. Telecom have no licenses in this range, and also hold no licenses in the 700MHz range.

Telecom have management rights for 20MHz of paired 1800MHz spectrum. They also have management rights for (off the top of my head) 15MHz of 2.5/2.6GHz spectrum which is LTE band 7.

Nobody in NZ has management rights for 700MHz spectrum since this is still being used and hasn't been auctioned off yet.

Ragnor

8188 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#686737 16-Sep-2012 17:43

eXDee:
newbellies: Was about to reply that prepay plans are the reason i'm asking for Telecom, but just took a look this morning and noticed that vodafone now has similar plans.

Vodafones $19 prepay plan has been bumped temporarily to stop people from flocking to telecom. It goes down at the end of october, which is when you can no longer sign up for Telecoms plan.

Difference is, telecom let you keep it if you keep paying for it. Vodafone drops your allowance as of the 1st of november.

2degrees' $19 plan is listed as until end ofJan 2013 so Vodafone and Telecom will have to keep theirs going to remain competitive.

Ventura

109 posts

Master Geek

#686747 16-Sep-2012 17:58

Have a look at the 'compare iPhone' page on apple's NZ site and they say we are getting the CDMA model.
http://store.apple.com/nz/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone/compare

Behodar

10323 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#686749 16-Sep-2012 18:01

Ventura: Have a look at the 'compare iPhone' page on apple's NZ site and they say we are getting the CDMA model.
http://store.apple.com/nz/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone/compare

The equivalent Aussie page says that too, but the LTE details page shows that they're getting one of the "GSM" models. I think that comparison page is generic.

eXDee

4032 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#686760 16-Sep-2012 18:23

drquack32: I still don't get why they released 3 versions of the phone. That's never been explained as far as I am aware.

Anyone have an idea why?

This article explains it
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6295/why-the-iphone-5-lacks-simultaneous-voice-and-lte-or-evdo-svlte-svdo-support-

Ragnor:
eXDee:
newbellies: Was about to reply that prepay plans are the reason i'm asking for Telecom, but just took a look this morning and noticed that vodafone now has similar plans.

Vodafones $19 prepay plan has been bumped temporarily to stop people from flocking to telecom. It goes down at the end of october, which is when you can no longer sign up for Telecoms plan.

Difference is, telecom let you keep it if you keep paying for it. Vodafone drops your allowance as of the 1st of november.

2degrees' $19 plan is listed as until end ofJan 2013 so Vodafone and Telecom will have to keep theirs going to remain competitive.

Telecoms plan came first, which caused 2degrees to then temporarily bump their offerings till the end of jan.
The result is after october 31st no one will be able to sign onto the Telecom plan but anyone already on it will already be able to keep it on an ongoign basis, as long as they get it every month.
So you'll still be able to get the 2degrees deal as a new customer after the telecom one is no longer available, but anyone looking now can see the telecom one is best long term (10 more minutes than 2degrees and doesn't expire).

November will mark the start of their christmas marketing period which i imagine will be another aggressive push filled with temporary offers.

Ventura: Have a look at the 'compare iPhone' page on apple's NZ site and they say we are getting the CDMA model.
http://store.apple.com/nz/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone/compare

This is generic. Its wording isnt clear but its specifying if you have the CDMA model it will have EV-DO support. We probably will get the A1429 GSM across all carriers. This has LTE on 850, 1800 and 2100.

Callplus (slingshot parent), vodafone, 2degrees, telecom and telstraclear (soon to be vodafone) all hold licences on the 1800mhz spectrum as follows:

Callplus 1785 - 1805 (20mhz)
Vodafone 1805 - 1820 (15mhz)
2degrees 1820 - 1830 (10mhz)
Telecom 1830 - 1855 (25mhz)
Telstraclear 1855 - 1880 (25mhz)

2Degrees and Vodafone use this allocation for 2G services i believe. The fact that telecom has 25mhz sitting unused on this band means they can run 20mhz Band 3 LTE no worries.

On 1900mhz, which the iphone5 would also support, but i'm guessing less likely to see a LTE rollout?
Vodafone 1920-1935 (15mhz)
Telstraclear 1935-1950 (15mhz)
Telecom 1950-1965 (15mhz)

In the 2600mhz, another possible candidate for LTE use, but not relevant to the iphone range we have
Telecom 2640-2660 (20mhz)
Callplus (under Blue Reach ltd) 2660-2675 (15mhz)
Vodafone 2675-2690 (15mhz)