T-Mobile and MetroPCS: A match in LTE heaven

This week, Deutsche Telekom and MetroPCS Communications agreed to combine T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS into a new, larger mobile network operator to that will offer low-cost wireless services both domestically and globally.

Why is this a big deal? One reason is because this is the first CDMA2000 operator that Deutsche Telekom has ever acquired. This will give T-Mobile USA a nascent CDMA2000 network in fourteen markets in the United States. Normally, this could be quite problematic, since integrating and maintaining a CDMA network alongside T-Mobile’s GSM-based network could become a nightmare. However, MetroPCS has already committed to eliminating CDMA2000 from its network platform within two years without T-Mobile’s help. This changes nothing for MetroPCS in terms of its CDMA network. MetroPCS is already not investing in CDMA and focusing on expanding and bulking up its LTE network. It is entirely possible that this tie-up will accelerate MetroPCS’ plans to shut down its CDMA network.

Additionally, this jumpstarts T-Mobile’s LTE network in metropolitan areas. MetroPCS’ network (which is on the exact same spectrum that T-Mobile’s LTE network will be on and on the same spectrum as T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network is and will be on, as well) covers all fourteen markets that the CDMA2000 network covers, and uses equipment similar T-Mobile’s HSPA/LTE network equipment. MetroPCS’ network even has VoLTE (voice over LTE) deployed and commercially available in Dallas, with plans to expand to all MetroPCS markets in four to six months! Since MetroPCS and T-Mobile are using compatible core network equipment from the same vendor, it is a simple matter to bridge everything together to extend those capabilities out for MetroPCS subscribers to T-Mobile’s full network.

The combination of the spectral assets of both companies will allow the new company to offer DC-HSPA (with up to 42Mbps throughput and latency as low as 30ms) in all major metropolitan markets as well as 15MHz LTE with the option to expand it to 20MHz LTE-Advanced with the shutdown of CDMA2000 over time. MetroPCS’ PCS (1.9GHz spectrum) network (in the few markets it has that) will be fully converted to HSPA+ and LTE. MetroPCS also has additional AWS (1.7/2.1GHz spectrum) in markets where it has not deployed anything, and T-Mobile can take advantage of that immediately for LTE.

The sordid details

The deal is a little tricky, legally speaking. Legally, what is happening is that T-Mobile USA and all associated subsidiaries, affiliates, and partnerships are being acquired by MetroPCS Communications (who will rename itself and do business as T-Mobile USA), who will turn around and issue 76% ownership of the new company to Deutsche Telekom’s mobile arm, T-Mobile International AG. This is known as a reverse takeover. Regardless of how the transaction is playing out legally, Deutsche Telekom will retain considerable control over the new company.

NewCo (as it is tentatively called by Deutsche Telekom and MetroPCS Communications) will be publicly traded, which is why this odd way of combining the companies is being done. It makes the paperwork to turn T-Mobile USA from a subsidiary of a publicly traded foreign company into a domestic publicly traded one in its own right much easier. This also gives T-Mobile USA the flexibility to access cash generation schemes available to its competitors, like debt markets and such.

Deutsche Telekom will have representatives on the new company’s board and both companies’ organizational structures are being retained, with MetroPCS’ organization becoming the MetroPCS Customer Unit, and the T-Mobile USA organization becoming the T-Mobile Customer Unit. A new executive team comprised of members of both companies (with new T-Mobile USA CEO John Legere retaining the position for the new company) will manage the new company.

Benefits for T-Mobile customers

The single largest benefit to T-Mobile customers is that the increased size of the company’s subscriber base will allow T-Mobile to have a better shot at getting new devices that are typically exclusively for the big three carriers. While T-Mobile will still remain number four, it will have bulked up its subscriber base to about 43 million, as opposed to the 33 million it has now.

T-Mobile should be able to accelerate its network reconfiguration plans, which would mean that more places will get iPhone compatibility on the faster network more quickly. T-Mobile will also have greater leverage to get Apple to officially bring the iPhone 5 to T-Mobile, especially since it will be the only network in the United States that can take full advantage of what the iPhone offers in terms of network connectivity.

We should see LTE-enabled devices starting to arrive on T-Mobile within the next few months in preparation for the 2013 launch of LTE. Other than that, this really does not change much for T-Mobile customers.

Benefits to MetroPCS customers

If you thought MetroPCS was going to go away because of this, you’re wrong. The opposite will happen: MetroPCS will go nationwide. By having access to the T-Mobile network nationwide, the MetroPCS brand (which is well known as a prepaid innovator) can expand. This effectively gives T-Mobile a dual brand situation: T-Mobile for postpaid and business, and MetroPCS as the prepaid brand.

MetroPCS customers will gain the freedom to jump between brands and the services they offer. On the MetroPCS side, customers will likely see far better devices at the same or lower price points. Part of what made it so difficult for MetroPCS to make available affordable LTE devices was that CDMA2000 on AWS is exceptionally rare. The only two major networks that use it are Leap Wireless’ Cricket Communications and MetroPCS. Immediately after closing, the entire MetroPCS lineup will be replaced with better GSM/HSPA/LTE models at either the same price point or lower. Expect for devices to become considerably better and cheaper very soon.

Now, you may be thinking that your current device won’t serve you well going forward. That isn’t true either, at least if you have an LTE device. If your phone is CDMA-only, go and get an LTE phone like the LG Connect 4G (which includes VoLTE) or wait a few months for more LTE phones with VoLTE to be introduced at cheaper price points. While regular LTE phones will also work on the new combined network, the VoLTE ones will be able to offer the full range of functionality when outside of MetroPCS’ CDMA coverage zones. However, it is possible for MetroPCS to update current LTE phones to offer VoLTE support, so even current LTE phones that aren’t VoLTE enabled now can support it eventually. However, if you can wait until the deal closes, you’ll be able to get much better phones that support the entire T-Mobile/MetroPCS supported network.

MetroPCS customers will also gain the full range of roaming options domestically and internationally through the agreements T-Mobile USA and Deutsche Telekom have. Those who occasionally or frequently travel may find the new MetroPCS’ device lineup and plan options more appealing if they are contract-averse.

Who loses in this?

Mainly, Leap Wireless is the big loser. With MetroPCS shifting from CDMA/LTE to HSPA/LTE, the market for CDMA2000 devices on AWS spectrum shrinks down to pretty much just Leap’s network (with less than 6 million subscribers). Leap will have little market power whatsoever to get devices. Previously, Leap Wireless could rely on a 16 million subscriber base (between MetroPCS and Cricket) to fuel the ecosystem for decently unique handsets, but MetroPCS’ 10 million subscriber base is moving to HSPA and LTE. This means that Leap will have to rely more on its PCS CDMA network and its MVNO relationship with Sprint (which is on the brink of being cancelled since they defaulted on a payment to Sprint).

At some point in the future, CDMA-only MetroPCS subscribers will need to switch to newer handsets, as the CDMA network is being aggressively shut off. This isn’t really a change from MetroPCS’ current plans, but it is something that current MetroPCS customers will need to face.

Conclusively a good match

Despite the issues dealing with a small legacy CDMA2000 network, this combination is actually a good thing. MetroPCS and T-Mobile have compatible spectrum assets, and MetroPCS’ subscriber base is used to switching phones far more often than T-Mobile’s subscriber base, so the transition will be much smoother and quicker than the Sprint/Nextel debacle.

There’s not really any competitive harm in this deal, since MetroPCS operates in markets that have four or more wireless competitors to itself, already. The only hurt will be Leap’s ability to get AWS CDMA devices, but Leap should have been more proactive in upgrading its network to PCS/AWS LTE, anyway. It’s known for some time now that MetroPCS was going to kill off PCS/AWS CDMA.

Both carriers’ customers should experience massive improvements in quality on day one of the new company’s operation, as some of the spectrum can be utilized to improve current network performance as soon as access to it is granted. Hopefully, this deal will gain swift approval from the FCC in order for the benefits to be realized as soon as possible.

Read more: What is LTE?

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Samsung Galaxy S3: Which US carrier should you choose?

Tomorrow, June 21, the Samsung Galaxy S3 arrives in the United States. A carpet bomb launch will see the phone arrive on all four major carriers — AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile — at the same time, at the same price ($200 for the 16GB version, with a two-year contract). Verizon, Sprint, and US Cellular will also offer the 32GB variant for $250. But which carrier is the best choice for the Galaxy S3?

Fortunately, as you may have noticed, Samsung seems to have pulled off the impossible and convinced every US carrier to call the Galaxy S3… the Galaxy S3. For the time being at least, we won’t be seeing the same hyperbolic noun treatment that previous Galaxy S phones went through (Fascinate, Vibrant, Epic 4G, Epic 4G Touch, etc.) This has the knock-on effect that almost every Galaxy S3 available in the US will be virtually identical — at least hardware-wise.

Every US Galaxy S3 has the same Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 dual-core 28nm SoC, clocked at 1.5GHz, with the Adreno 225 GPU. They weigh the same (133g), have the same battery life (around 9 hours), have the same 2GB of RAM, and most importantly, they all have Qualcomm’s awesome multi-mode 2G/3G UMTS & HSPA/4G LTE radio. The only difference as far as we can tell is that the T-Mobile variant (SGH-T999) doesn’t support LTE, and the AT&T/Verizon/Sprint models (SGH-i747, SCH-i535, SPH-L710 respectively) don’t support T-Mobile’s HSPA+. We believe the Snapdragon S4′s radio might be reconfigurable with some firmware hacking, however; it might be possible to take a T-Mobile S3 and use it on AT&T’sLTE network.

All US Galaxy S3 phones support Bluetooth 4.0 LE, 2.4 and 5GHz WiFi a/b/n/g, and NFC. Except for the Sprint variant (SPH-L710), it is likely that all Galaxy S3s are quad-band GSM and should be capable of GSM roaming in Europe and Asia.

As you’ve probably guessed by now, the main difference between the Galaxy S3 on each carrier is bloatware. While all of the carriers’ S3s will have Samsung’s fancy new apps (S Voice, AllShare Play, Media Hub, etc.), each carrier will have a different selection of bloatware on offer. The Sprint S3 will come with the usual Sprinty stuff (Hotspot, SprintZone), plus Dropbox and Google Wallet. The AT&T S3 is relatively svelte, with just the normal AT&T apps (Navigator, Messages, myAT&T) and YP Mobile. Neither the Verizon or T-Mobile S3s have been released for review, so we won’t know how bloated they are until they arrive on our doorstep tomorrow.

All Galaxy S3s will run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, skinned with Samsung’s TouchWiz.

Except for bloatware, then (which you can easily remove), any Galaxy S3 purchased from a US carrier will be virtually identical. There are still two very important variables to discuss, though: Network speed, and the international quad-core Galaxy S3 (GT-I9300).

While the US Galaxy S3 is an LTE phone, there isn’t actually a whole lot of LTE coverage in the USA. Fortunately, our sister site PC Mag has just published its Fastest Mobile Networks 2012 guide. While Verizon is the overall 3G/4G winner, there were still 11 cities where T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network provided faster download speeds than Verizon LTE, and where AT&T LTE is available it simply blows away the competition.

Bear in mind that Sprint’s 4G LTE network is almost nonexistent (though its Network Vision upgrade is underway). T-Mobile is also beginning to roll out LTE (alongside HSPA+), though again you will probably have to hack the radio firmware to be able to use it.

Before you pick a carrier for your new Galaxy S3, I strongly suggest you check the 3G and 4G speeds for your city or region.

Finally, it’s worth remembering that you can also buy an unlocked, off-contract international (i.e. non-US) quad-core Galaxy S3 (GT-I9300) for around $800. The GT-I9300, with its 1.4GHz Exynos 4 Quad and Mali 400 GPU, seems to clock in significantly higher scores in GPU benchmarks, JavaScript benchmarks, and CF-Bench (a multi-core CPU and memory benchmark). Battery life seems to be roughly the same, but the Exynos version only has 1GB of RAM vs. the Snapdragon’s 2GB.

If you don’t like bloatware, it’s also important to note that there’s already a CyanogenMod 9 (i.e. vanilla Ice Cream Sandwich) build for the GT-I9300 — though I’m sure it’ll only be a matter of days or weeks before we see CM9 for the SGH-i747, SCH-i535, SPH-L710, and SGH-T999. The GT-I9300 should work on AT&T’s HSPA+ network, but it will be incompatible with T-Mo, Verizon, and Sprint.

Read more of our Galaxy S3 coverage, or read our LTE explainer.

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T-Mobile forges ahead with network upgrade, begins LTE-Advanced trials

Back in February, T-Mobile announced a bold plan to rebuild its entire network infrastructure throughout 2012 to prepare for an LTE launch in 2013. Nearly half a year later, T-Mobile has issued a status report on the project, saying it has made “great progress.”

T-Mobile says that it has signed multi-year agreements with both Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks to upgrade the network. The equipment that these two companies will be providing will be 3GPP (HSPA+/LTE) Release 10 equipment.

3GPP Release 10 is special because it is the first release to qualify for the LTE-Advanced moniker. The big features in this release are expanded MIMO configurations, carrier aggregation, and Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC). That is just for the LTE side. On the HSPA+ side, the big feature is multi-band multi-cell HSPA.

For LTE, MIMO allows devices to support more throughput with lower latencies with the same frequency bandwidth used in Release 8 LTE (which is what AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and Sprint are deploying). Carrier aggregation allows devices to pull in multiple channels operating in a frequency range, which increases the total frequency bandwidth available to use. This improves connection stability and can reduce cell-to-cell handover. Obviously, it also can provide the same benefits as MIMO, but the two technologies are complementary, rather than mutually exclusive. SRVCC brings in the ability to hand over voice calls from legacy UMTS networks (GSM and WCDMA) to VoLTE and back.

On the HSPA+ side, MIMO configurations and limited carrier aggregation have already been put into the standard. Release 10 adds the ability to use multiple frequency bands for carrier aggregation, called multi-band multi-cell HSPA. For T-Mobile, this would be critical if it wanted to deploy HSPA+84 or HSPA+168 alongside LTE. The current spectral configuration is simply not optimal for running LTE on one band and HSPA+ on another. Some places will have to mix it up in order to provided a high quality service on both technologies.

To that end, T-Mobile will have replaced 400 cell sites by the end of the month, and 2500 by the end of next month. It has received zoning approval for “over 19,500 sites” and has obtained building permits for “over 4,000 sites.” That leaves about 17,500 cell sites unaccounted for thus far, but it is expected that T-Mobile will not have a difficult time upgrading those. As the equipment is installed, small deployments of PCS HSPA+ will become active in many locations before the official launch of PCS HSPA+ towards the end of the year. LTE trials are underway and T-Mobile will obtain Release 10 LTE testing equipment later this summer. All new cell site equipment is tri-mode GSM, HSPA+, and LTE. That means that it will be very easy for T-Mobile to launch LTE in many cities at once.

Unlike Sprint (who is only launching LTE in a few cities sometime soon as part of itsNetwork Vision upgrade), T-Mobile’s LTE launch in 2013 is expected to be rather widespread as the network upgrade is taking place throughout most of 2012. Sprint was expecting to launch in six cities by the end of the first half of the year, which ends in two weeks. T-Mobile expects to launch in many of its HSPA+42 markets at first, and progress on from there. So far, it looks like T-Mobile is doing much better in preparing for its launch than Sprint is.

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The new iPad: Most connected device ever, or merely a marketing ruse?

At the special event on March 7, Phil Schiller said to the audience that the new iPad has the most wireless bands and network connectivity options of any device ever shipped. But is it really the most connected device ever made, or just a marketing ruse?

While it is true that banding is important to wireless connectivity, it is important to consider the practical usage of those bands. From a global perspective, the new iPad is just as universal as the iPhone 4S.

The new iPad supports full quad-band operation on 2G GSM, like nearly all smart devices shipped today. On HSPA networks, the new iPad supports networks on band I (2100MHz), band II (1900MHz), band V (850MHz), band VI (800MHz) and band VIII (900MHz). For HSPA networks, the new iPad supports single carrier HSPA+ (with a theoretical maximum speed of 21Mbps) and dual-carrier HSPA+ (with a maximum speed of 42Mbps). Unfortunately, the only HSPA network in the United States that supports dual-carrier HSPA+ is T-Mobile USA. While T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network is not yet iPad compatible, it will be very soon. AT&T only has single carrier Release 7 HSPA+ deployed, which supports a maximum theoretical speed of 21Mbps, but most parts of the network only support 7.2Mbps or 14.4Mbps. That means that the connectivity upgrade for HSPA networks is useless in the USA for now. Other countries (like Canada, the UK, and Australia) offer (or will offer this year) dual-carrier HSPA+, making this a truly valuable upgrade.

The new iPad’s LTE connectivity is entirely limited to North America, making this option completely useless for most of the world. The variant being distributed worldwide includes support for LTE on band class 17 (B and C block Lower 700MHz), and band class 4 (AWS, 1700/2100 MHz). While band class 17 is restricted to AT&T only, band class 4 is used by Telus, Bell, Rogers, and AT&T for LTE. And soon, T-Mobile USA will use it too.

A second LTE-enabled variant for the United States will be available for Verizon Wireless. This variant adds support for CDMA2000 networks on band class 0 (850MHz) and band class 1 (1900MHz) and replaces the LTE band support for LTE networks on band class 13 (C block Upper 700MHz) instead. A little-known secret of the new iPad for Verizon is that the SIM card actually enables connectivity for both CDMA and LTE, as well as GSM and HSPA. SIM cards from CDMA and GSM carriers around the world will work on this model. In Asia, CDMA network access can and usually is provisioned with SIM cards, so those will work on the new iPad for Verizon Wireless.

In summary, the new iPad for the global market does not change anything in terms of connectivity, but the version for Verizon Wireless adds critical support for CDMA networks that use SIM cards for authorizing network access as well as global roaming support on GSM/HSPA networks. In the grand scheme of things, the new iPad does not improve cellular network connectivity all that much.

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T-Mobile announces LTE, prepares to take the US wireless market by storm

Yesterday, T-Mobile USA made a very bold announcement during the Deutsche Telekom press conference for fiscal year earnings. T-Mobile USA will be making a massive network upgrade across its footprint throughout 2012 in order to launch LTE in 2013. The clincher? The upgrade was made possible by the AWS spectrum that T-Mobile will receive from AT&T due to the breakup of the agreement for AT&T to acquire T-Mobile USA. And a large chunk of the cash used to pay for the upgrade came from the breakup fee, too.

According to T-Mobile, this upgrade comprises of a three-phase process: free up 2G spectrum, move HSPA+ to formerly 2G spectrum, and deploy LTE on formerly HSPA+ spectrum.

The first phase basically means that areas with low 2G GSM usage will get 2G GSM allocations cut in order to make room for HSPA+. In the last two years, 2G GSM usage has dropped dramatically across the board. Because of this, T-Mobile is finally able to begin the process of retiring 2G GSM. During this phase, old 2G GSM equipment and some 3G equipment will be replaced with new multi-mode equipment that supports 2G GSM, HSPA+, and LTE. In markets that were upgraded to HSPA+ in 2011, no replacement of equipment will be required, since the new multi-mode equipment has already been deployed. Backhaul (connections to the internet) upgrades may be required even in areas that already have the new multi-mode equipment.

The next phase involves reconfiguring cells (base stations and towers) to transmit and receive HSPA+ on both AWS (1.7GHz/2.1GHz, the band currently used for HSPA+), and PCS (1.9GHz, the band currently used for 2G GSM). In this phase, T-Mobile will free up about 10-20MHz of AWS for deployment of LTE, if it is necessary. In many markets, there will already be room available for LTE on AWS, so no additional steps would be required during this phase.

The final phase is actually the simplest one. The new equipment that T-Mobile is using for HSPA+ and LTE deployment supports remote software upgrades and reconfiguration. A network upgrade patch would be sent out to all stations with the new equipment, instructing cells to begin transmitting and receiving LTE on the AWS band. It is because of this that T-Mobile will be able to deploy LTE very quickly to a large portion of its native coverage once all the old equipment is replaced. It is also quite likely that Voice over LTE (VoLTE) and Single Radio Voice Call Continuity(SRVCC) will be supported on T-Mobile’s LTE network right from launch.

So what does this mean? Well, depending on who we’re talking about, different benefits will become immediately clear.

For users, it means any T-Mobile subscriber (or potential subscriber) could purchase an AT&T or T-Mobile device and use it on the high-speed network. That includes the iPhone. While an iPhone that supports AWS HSPA+ is ideal, the reconfiguration of the T-Mobile network for PCS HSPA+ is the next best solution.

Additionally, an LTE iPhone that works on AT&T’s LTE network will work just fine on T-Mobile’s LTE network as well, since AT&T and T-Mobile share frequencies for LTE. LTE devices from Cricket, MetroPCS, C Spire Wireless, and U.S. Cellular will work on T-Mobile’s LTE network. Future LTE devices from Verizon Wireless may include support for AWS LTE and may also work on T-Mobile’s future LTE network.

Also, the wide range of devices available all over the Americas and in Europe will now work on T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network. The Americas are largely unified on the same frequencies as AT&T, with the exception of the few AWS 3G networks in Canada, the US, and Peru. In Europe, nearly all top-grade LG and Samsung smartphones/tablets (many of them never get released on a US carrier) have support for PCS HSPA+. Most popular international unlocked smartphones and tablets will now work on T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network instead of falling back to 2G.

The end result of this is that devices will become much cheaper very soon. T-Mobile is set to take advantage of the massive ecosystem built up around PCS HSPA+ and AWS LTE. This is a big win for both T-Mobile USA and T-Mobile subscribers. Both the subscriber and the carrier will save quite a bit of money on purchasing devices in the future. Considering the fact that T-Mobile has the cheapest plans of the national carriers, this new upgrade makes T-Mobile highly attractive to potential subscribers.

For companies wanting to become MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators, who are carriers that do not run their own networks and rely on existing ones), this announcement means that T-Mobile is the ideal choice as a network partner because nearly all GSM devices will work on the T-Mobile high-speed network. MVNOs can choose to make SIM-only offerings and/or offerings with T-Mobile branded devices. But, now they could also choose to make offerings with MVNO-branded devices very easily as well.

For smaller US carriers deploying LTE, it means that they now have a viable option for roaming deals that would be willing to negotiate a fair price for national roaming. T-Mobile USA is easily the best choice for smaller carriers who want to be able to offer national 4G roaming coverage. Many small carriers may not even be able to deploy 4G, and could negotiate agreements with T-Mobile USA to allow their customers to use T-Mobile’s network.

For international network operators, they now can negotiate with Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile USA for fairer roaming deals compared to the ones they may have with AT&T and Verizon Wireless. T-Mobile USA is particularly more appealing because its new band plan is aligned well with the major carriers in Canada (who use PCS for HSPA+ and AWS for LTE, too) and Latin America (who use PCS for HSPA+). A national carrier that offers a simple band plan for one of the largest markets in the world makes it easy for international carriers to offer roaming to the US, which is very important for business customers.

The move to PCS HSPA+ and AWS LTE by T-Mobile USA is definitely the best choice. By offering a highly advanced, compatible, and expansive network with excellent rate plans and devices, T-Mobile USA is poised to take the wireless market in the United States by storm.

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Why get a Kindle Fire when you could have the Galaxy Tab 2?

Samsung has officially unveiled its competitor to the wildly popular Kindle Fire in the form of the Galaxy Tab 2, the second iteration of its first tablet device to run Android. Releasing in the UK this March, the Tab 2 is a seven-inch device that will be the first tablet from Samsung to run Android 4.0 (ICS). With a price point that is going to be around $350.00, it may make more sense to consumers to pick up a fully functional tablet rather than one that doesn’t have access to the Android Market.

Aimed directly at the mid-range tablet market, the Tab 2 doesn’t have specs that will blow you away but will get the job done nicely. Coming in both WiFi and HSPA+ flavors, the device has a 1GHz dual-core processor under the hood to display content on the 7-inch 1024×600 (WSVGA) screen. For video and pictures, it sports a 3-megapixel camera in the back, and a VGA cam in the front for video calls and Google+ Hangouts. Those of you familiar with the Galaxy Tab Plus will notice that this is a slight downgrade in terms of hardware, but again Samsung is looking to appeal to those consumers who either bought or would buy Amazon’s Fire. Of course, those who actually bought the Tab Plus will be wondering where the ICS upgrade is for their devices. My advice is to not hold your breath.

While there is no word to a US release date as of yet, Samsung is showing its market awareness by launching this device right now. If indeed the company can succeed at launching the Tab 2 at $350.00, I believe it can be successful. With Amazon selling over five million Kindle Fire tablets this past holiday season, it shows that consumers are open to the idea of looking for iPad alternatives. At seven inches, the form factor hits a sweet spot for portability. It’s a lot easier to put the Tab 2 in a pocket or purse for carrying on-the-go than a 10-inch device.

While getting the Tab 2 means parting with an additional $150 over the Fire, it’s money well spent to have a fully functioning Android device with the latest version of the OS out of the box. With the ability to be able to download the Kindle app from the Android Market, you can have your cake and eat it too.

Read more at Engadget.

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Will the iPhone 5 work on T-Mobile?

Talking at CES 2012, Neville Ray, CTO of T-Mobile USA, says that an AWS-compatible iPhone might be coming soon. According to him, the current lack of T-Mobile support goes back to the fact that the various iterations of the iPhone radio chip have never supported the AWS band that T-Mobile USA uses. He believes that with the current and next generation radio chipsets all supporting AWS, Apple will likely include support for the band, making it possible for the next iPhone — the iPhone 5 — to operate on T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network.

A little background research reveals that there has been an iPhone that included a radio chipset that supported AWS, but it was not capable of connecting to networks on AWS due to additional hardware factors. The Verizon iPhone 4 uses Qualcomm’s MDM6600 (part of the Gobi 3000 series), which Qualcomm has declared does support the AWS band for HSPA+. In fact, the Qualcomm MDM6600 is a tri-mode cellular radio chip, supporting GSM+EDGE, HSPA+, and CDMA2000 1X with EV-DO. However, the rest of the radio structure only supported CDMA2000 on the Cellular and PCS bands used by Verizon.

The GSM model of the iPhone 4 did not use Qualcomm’s MDM6600. It used an Infineon modem that supported only UMTS 850/900/1900/2100.

With the iPhone 4S, the radio was upgraded to the MDM6610. As part of Qualcomm’s Gobi 3000 series, it still includes support for AWS on the chip. From what I can tell, the reason for the lack of AWS support is simply because the radio structure doesn’t have support for it. The LPIA (Load-Insensitive Power Amplifier) from Skyworks is a unit that only supports UMTS 850/900/1900/2100, leaving out T-Mobile’s band.

If the iPhone 5 uses a Skyworks LPIA for 3G again, it would probably use the Skyworks 77602 LPIA, which supports UMTS 850/900/1700/1900/2100 and CDMA 850/1700/1900/2100. Already, the iPhone 4S uses a custom unit and separate power amplifiers for HSPA+ and CDMA2000, which it shouldn’t have to. Using this unified LPIA would allow Apple a little more room to put something else on it, like an LTE power amplifier.

If the next iPhone does use the above mentioned Skyworks LPIA, then it will also work on MetroPCS and Cricket’s AWS CDMA networks as well as T-Mobile’s AWS HSPA+ network.

Additionally, it is certain that if the next iPhone launches with LTE included, it will include AWS support because AT&T currently specifies it in its requirements for LTE. Verizon will likely update its requirements to include support for it too, since it plans on using AWS it purchased from the cable companies to bolster its 4G LTE network.

The duplexers on the iPhone 4S are only capable of operating on 850MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz (GSM only), 1900MHz, and 2100MHz. For the next iPhone to support AWS, additional duplexers and filters will be required for the band.

It is definitely feasible for Apple to implement it. Apple may even choose to implement it regardless of not having a distribution deal with T-Mobile USA because unlocked phone purchases from Apple are much more profitable than carrier distribution in terms of per unit. In terms of volume, it isn’t (in the United States, at least). But, because the iPhone will be a singular unit sold for all carriers, Apple simply may not care.

In any case, it will be interesting to see whether the next iPhone and/or iPad will indeed add support for AWS HSPA+ and AWS CDMA2000.

Read more about Neville Ray’s comments

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