Re:Apple iPhone 5 US Carrier Comparison Chart
by Nrsolis on Friday September 14, 2012 @01:31PM
(#4522845)
That's not necessarily true. There is little difference between WiMAX and LTE on all of the hard parts: antenna configuration, transceivers, and amplifiers. Even the modulation scheme is the same: OFDM. Sprint started installing firmware-upgradable base stations a little while ago and I strongly suspect that the process for converting from WiMAX to LTE is governed by staff time limitations than outright technical debt.
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Re:Apple iPhone 5 US Carrier Comparison Chart
by indiekid on Friday September 14, 2012 @01:37PM
(#4522892)
Unfortunately LTE-based devices on Sprint still won't be backwards compatible with the converted WiMAX towers as they only output in 2.3 GHz, 2.5 GHz and 3.5 GHz bands. The iPhone 5 specifically maxes out at a 2.1GHz band.
Re:Apple iPhone 5 US Carrier Comparison Chart
by Nrsolis on Friday September 14, 2012 @02:09PM
(#4523102)
Oh ya, the user terminals out there are going to have to be replaced wholesale. My only point was that Sprint is going to be able to convert to LTE a lot quicker than people expect. Building up a user base is another issue entirely.