[Discuss] Verizon wireless "mandatory" dataplan

[mark at buttery.org (Shirley Márquez Dúlcey)]

On 7/8/2012 3:53 PM, Tom Metro wrote:
>
> (Anyone ever look at 4G interoperability? I see multiple previously
> incompatible carriers are now using or deploying LTE. I presume at
> minimum they'll be using different bands, which could in theory be
> supported by a multi-band phone.

Right now the picture for LTE 4G in the US is grim. Each carrier is 
using a different set of frequencies and a different band plan and 
multiband phones do not yet exist, so there is no interoperability at all.

AT&T and Verizon are using their new 700MHz allocations, but may 
eventually deploy LTE on their 850MHz and 1900MHz spectrum as well. (So 
far as I know, neither has yet done so.) Sprint is planning to use its 
existing 850 and 1900MHz allocations; they may also get LTE service from 
Clearwire which will use its 2500MHz spectrum. T-Mobile plans to 
decommission EDGE, move HSPA+ to 1900MHz for better compatibility with 
other people's phones including the iPhone, and repurpose 1700MHz for 
LTE. I don't know what MetroPCS is doing, and none of the other small 
carriers like Alltel and Cricket have announced LTE plans yet.

A further complication is that all US carriers are still using legacy 
protocols for voice; VoLTE (voice over LTE) is being worked on but is 
not yet deployed. I don't expect this first generation of LTE phones to 
ever offer any kind of meaningful interoperability. Check back next 
year; the next generation may do better.

The picture is somewhat better for 3.5G HSPA+ interoperability. The 
quad-band iPhone will do high speed data on most GSM-based carriers 
worldwide once you get a suitable SIM; T-Mobile USA is the notable 
exception because it uses an unusual frequency (1700 MHz). The 
penta-band Galaxy Nexus does it one better, as it includes the T-Mobile 
band. That should get you reasonably fast data worldwide for the next 
3-4 years; eventually carriers will want to start retiring HSPA+ 
capability and go all-in on LTE but that probably won't happen within 
the lifetime of a phone you buy right now. There was never any push to 
do voice on HSPA+ so all such phones still use standard GSM for that.