Remember the whole fiasco with the supposedly 4G new iPad that wasn’t actually 4G-compatible in many territories? Yeah, that fiasco.
Well, some shadowy figures suggest the iPhone 5 will have global LTE; like proper LTE in any and all compatible regions.
The new iPad 4G thing ultimately led to Apple removing the “4G” reference in the UK and Australia among others. Indeed, the Aussies took it particularly hard. They had their advertising standards folk (the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) involved and everything.
Now, “people familiar with the matter” tell The Wall Street Journal that the iPhone 5 will offer LTE across various bands. I say “various”; IDC estimates there are a whopping 36 in total.
Qualcomm guy Bill Davidson, however, isn’t convinced. He observes: "It's like a patchwork quilt in terms of spectrum. It will be impractical to have all of the bands."
LTE is most prevalent in the US, Japan and South Korea. In Europe, we have LTE in Scandinavia, Germany, and a handful of others including France.
Of course, Everything Everywhere has apparently been given the go ahead to start rolling out LTE from September 11. Huzzah! Er, unless you’re on O2, Vodafone or Three.
