Will the new 4G LTE Phones be Global? I have read that LTE is backward compatible to 3G, CDMA, Dual & Quad Band GSM, etc. I'm looking for a Global Phone to replace my Storm 9530 when I travel to Spain and would like a 4G phone.
gkuypers wrote:Will the new 4G LTE Phones be Global? I have read that LTE is backward compatible to 3G, CDMA, Dual & Quad Band GSM, etc. I'm looking for a Global Phone to replace my Storm 9530 when I travel to Spain and would like a 4G phone.
I found this information on the web and it looks like LTE should be backwards compatible?
LTE
Long Term Evolution (LTE) is the next step from 3G/WCDMA & HSPA for many already on the GSM technology curve but also for others too, such as CDMA operators. This new radio access technology will be optimized to deliver very fast data speeds of up to 100Mb/s downlink and 50Mb/s uplink (peak rates).
Designed to be backwards-compatible with GSM and HSPA, LTE incorporates Multiple In Multiple Out (MIMO) in combination with Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) in the downlink and Single Carrier FDMA in the uplink to provide high levels of spectral efficiency and end user data rates exceeding 100 Mbps, coupled with major improvements in capacity and reductions in latency. LTE will support channel bandwidths from 1.25 MHz to 20 MHz and both FDD and TDD operation.
Although both LTE and WiMAX use the OFDMA air interface, LTE has the advantage of being backwards compatible with existing GSM and HSPA networks, enabling mobile operators deploying LTE to continue to provide a seamless service across LTE and existing deployed networks.
Several major mobile operators, including some running CDMA networks today, have indicated they will adopt LTE in the next few years. Japanese mobile operator NTT DOCOMO has said that it is aiming to launch a commercial LTE network by the end of 2009, while in the U.S., the largest CDMA operator, Verizon Wireless, is currently trialing LTE with a view to launching a commercial LTE service in 2010.
LTE- Advanced
LTE-Advanced extends the technological principles behind LTE into a further step change in data rates. Incorporating higher order MIMO (4x4 and beyond) and allowing multiple carriers to be bonded together into a single stream, target peak data rates of 1Gbps have been set.
LTE-Advanced also intends to use a number of further innovations including the ability to use non-contiguous frequency ranges, with the intent that this will alleviate frequency range issues in an increasingly crowded spectrum, self back-hauling base station and full incorporation of Femto cells using Self-Organising Network techniques.
LTE-Advanced will be 3GPP’s technology as a candidate for the ITU-R IMT-Advanced process, which is intended to identify ‘4G’ technologies.
I guess no one knows the answer to this question. It will be very disappointing if these 4G Phones come out and they cannot be used Globally.
gkuypers wrote:I guess no one knows the answer to this question. It will be very disappointing if these 4G Phones come out and they cannot be used Globally.
Four hours is a pretty short time!! I don't know the answer but I'd be skeptical and not count on having global service. The specs on the phones do not include GSM per phonearena. I compared Droid 2 Global and these 4G. No similarities. The LTE frequency for Verizon is 700. I think AT&T will be the same. Here's a copy of countries by frequency. LTE is not included
http://www.worldtimezone.com/gsm.html
It was more like 2 days and thanks for the link, however it does say "Designed to be backwards-compatible with GSM and HSPA", so you would think someone from Verizon would know
steveanderson13 wrote:
gkuypers wrote:I guess no one knows the answer to this question. It will be very disappointing if these 4G Phones come out and they cannot be used Globally.
Four hours is a pretty short time!! I don't know the answer but I'd be skeptical and not count on having global service. The specs on the phones do not include GSM per phonearena. I compared Droid 2 Global and these 4G. No similarities. The LTE frequency for Verizon is 700. I think AT&T will be the same. Here's a copy of countries by frequency. LTE is not included
http://www.worldtimezone.com/gsm.html
? I'm guessing they may lock the SIM Card to not be Global or somehing like that, but I really hope these are Global.
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Gee! Sorry I was late--call the concierge!!! Are you seeing any info anywhere that states what you want. I haven't. Backwards compatible doesn't imply global. Two separate systems may each be backwards compatible and yet not be interchangeable. Being backwards compatible is an obviously greater priority than global--on any system. All that matters is the frequencies in the specs--if they don't match, it doesn't work.
And just to speculate, I'm sure that what you want will come but probably not in the first round.
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