Dow Jones Newswires reports that Apple is facing a fine of roughly $1.9 million to settle a case brought by Australian regulators over Apple's use of the "4G" term in marketing for the new iPad when the device is not compatible with such networks outside of the United States and Canada.
A federal court in Melbourne heard Friday that Apple had agreed to pay A$2.25 million to settle a case brought against it by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. The company also has agreed to pay the commission's costs of A$300,000, commission lawyer Colin Golvan told the court.
Specifically, Australian carrier Telstra has rolled out a 4G LTE network, but due to differences in frequencies used in various countries, the new iPad does not support Telstra's 4G network and must rely on 3G connectivity.
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Apple has taken several steps to address the issue internationally, clarifying the language on its site discontinuing the "Wi-Fi + 4G" descriptor on a worldwide basis in favor of "Wi-Fi + Cellular".
Top Rated Comments
(View all)Aussies, stop whining and spend your legal dollars on upgrading your networks.[COLOR="#808080"]
First of all, we do have LTE here, it runs on 1800MHz, which Apple does not support and I would say that hearing Americans whine about their crappy 3G service with AT&T and whoever else operates in your country is also a sign for your people who have one of the highest sue rates to also spend some money upgrading them.
Frankly, if they do then the Australian consumers deserve it. It's not Apple's fault that ALL of the literature and website clearly state that it's carrier-dependent and that people there were too lazy to actually read.
Apple messed up here. Selling a 4G device to the whole world that only works in 1 country? So the whole world is behind the US?
Almost all 4G networks across the world work on slightly different frequencies.
If an Australian or British company made a claim to something and it didn't work in the US because of a slight difference in technology, you lot we be the first to bitch about it and sue the companies for miss selling.
Weird. Regulators sound confused, retarded gov't types strike again.
Quick google reveals an article from ZDNET Australia... Telestra, Optus, and Vodafone are 4G/HSPA+ networks.
http://www.zdnet.com.au/vodafone-goes-hspa-before-4g-launch-339332404.htm
Uh... What's your point? Their networks are not compatible with the new iPad, so there is no service in Australia that can connect with the iPad's 4G hardware. Thus, the iPad effectively doesn't have 4G. That's the point.
The problem as I understand it.
Company X makes a device that is Nth generation compatible.
They sell it in Country Y which is at N-1th generation network.
Citizens of Country Y complain because their N-1 network is old technology.
Citizens of Country Y can still use the Nth generation device in other Nth generation network countries.
Incorrect.
The issue is that the "4G" iPad cannot connect using frequencies that are used for 4G in Australia. The 4G networks in Australia aren't "old technology", they're just using a different frequency.
Dumb Aussies ...
You guys really shouldn't descend to racist insults.
We have a 4G network in Australia. Apple didn't do their research and make the new iPad work with it. To then advertise that it does is false advertising. There are consumer protection laws in place to prevent this.
End of story.