China Mobile Reaffirms Discussions with Apple for TD-LTE iPhone

Thursday September 15, 2011 7:37 am PDT by Eric Slivka

As related by Bloomberg, China Mobile chairman Wang Jianzhou has reiterated his earlier claims that Apple and the carrier are working toward developing an iPhone capable of running on the carrier's next-generation time-division LTE (TD-LTE) network.

“China Mobile and Apple hope to find a solution for close collaboration” on the TD-LTE network and compatible products, Wang said in an interview in Dalian today. “We discussed this issue with Apple. We hope Apple will produce a new iPhone with TD-LTE. We have already got a positive answer from Apple.”

China Mobile has received approval for trials of its TD-LTE network, which can offer certain advantages over the frequency-division LTE standard being deployed by most other carriers.

Recent reports have suggested that Apple and China Mobile have already struck a deal for an iPhone capable of running on the carrier's existing 3G TD-SCDMA network. Talks between Apple and China Mobile have been held at the highest levels, with Steve Jobs himself said to have been involved and Tim Cook having visited the carrier's headquarters to work toward a deal.

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accessoriesguy

Posted: 9 months ago

If China gets an LTE capable iphone and everyone else doesn't, i'll be plenty pissed!

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landscapeman

Posted: 9 months ago

if china gets an lte capable iphone and everyone else doesn't, i'll be plenty pissed!

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Westacular

Posted: 9 months ago

If China gets an LTE capable iphone and everyone else doesn't, i'll be plenty pissed!

An LTE capable iPhone is inevitable, and it will probably be the 2012 / 6th generation model.

This isn't about China Mobile getting an LTE iPhone earlier than anyone else. This is them trying to ensure that they'll be able to get one at all -- i.e., confirming that when Apple does make one, they'll be willing to make one that supports the TD-LTE variant that China Mobile (but almost no one else) is deploying.

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Westacular

Posted: 9 months ago

Also, LTE is a pure IP data spec. For the next few years at least, it's really not going to be used for voice and SMS -- so for any LTE phone to work, it must also work on the carrier's existing cell network.

Which, in the case of China Mobile's 3G TD-SCDMA, is also a different twist from anything currently supported by an iPhone.

Basically: Wang Jianzhou is negotiating with Apple such that Apple will include new hardware versions for their network with future products.

A general thing to note with LTE is that, like all previous cell technologies, LTE will be used on the same wide array of different bands in countries. This, combined with the need to fallback for voice/SMS, means that LTE on its own won't solve the chronic issues of network compatibility and global roaming.

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