FCC approves first LTE phone, Samsung SCH-R900

By on Jul 30, 2010 at 10:59 AM
mobile July 30, 2010

The FCC has green-lighted the Samsung SCH-R900, what appears to be the U.S.’s first CDMA/LTE handset. The R900 was announced back in March at CTIA by pre-paid carrier MetroPCS, and the cost-conscious carrier stated it would have the device out before the end of the year. The Samsung device will contain a 1700/1900 MHz LTE radio (MetroPCS is licensed to operate LTE on this spectrum) Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. There has been no indication of what operating system the device will run, although Android is a pretty solid bet.

Currently, LTE trials are underway in Boston and Seattle by larger CDMA carrier Verizon Wireless; Big Red is promising to have their 4G network up and running in 25 to 30 markets by the end of 2010.

Who’s excited for this portly looking LTE phone?

[Via PhoneScoop]

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  • Kigs

    why is there mention of VZ when this was announced for metro PCS?

    • skyy_flyer

      I wonder how many people on BGR have MetroPCS. Now I wonder how many people on BGR have Verizon. You want to make the article relate to as many people as possible, more readers equal more money after all. Seeing as the only thing ATT has that brings in readers is articles on the iPhone and Sprint already has a 4G phone, Verizon was the best choice to tie the story of 4G to those without MetroPCS. That or they just wanted to make people think that question that you were brave enough to ask.

  • 3 Phones Jugglin

    Portrait slider?? Pass…

  • BigBoy

    LTE to CDMA hand-offs are going to be exciting.

    • Sam

      Will the LTE to CDMA hand-offs be as exciting as the ones for GSM to TDMA back when they had GAIT phones on Cingular?

      • Sam

        So why does my comment about GAIT automatically get a -1? Does anyone even remember GAIT phones?

    • Scorpeo

      It won’t be pretty, Verizon customers will riot in the streets!

    • John Thacker

      The LTE specification has a tremendous amount of material in there about CDMA hand-offs. That was the price for Verizon abandoning Qualcomm’s UMB, remember. Of course, non-CDMA vendors won’t really bother to implement that part of the spec, but there is at least more official support for it than for GSM handoffs to TDMA, say.

      • BigBoy

        Not only do they have to deal with the RF hand-off but from a network security standpoint they also have to deal with the disparate user/device authentication processes. Additionally from an IP connectivity standpoint GSM based and CDMA based networks are completely different so initial early adopters may be in for a boatload of fun, and things like persistent IP addresses may not be available.

        We’ll know soon enough.

    • Triangle

      There won’t really be a handoff because you’ll either have LTE or essentially nothing because MetroPCS does not have a 3G data network. You can use data on the CDMA 1xrtt network, but would get slower speeds than dial-up…

  • ArT

    Not excited by the phone one bit. But excited that LTE phones are starting to appear in the real world!! Come on HTC and Motorola! Daddy needs a 4g phone by Christmas!!!

    • Sam

      I want to wait and see what the tiered data offerings are first from Verizon before I pony up the dough for new phone this December. I’ll technically be out of contract with VZW in March ’11 and free to go to any provide I want to.

      I also want the first wave of LTE/CDMA devices to be burned through first – get the quirks out. THEN, and ONLY then, I’ll get a new phone. By then I should have the $400 / $500 saved up to buy the phone outright without a contract, but I’ll probably wait for folks to sell theirs on eBay for a few hundred less.

  • JohnH

    Verizon’s new licenses, which I presume will be used for LTE, are in the 700MHz spectrum, and their CDMA uses 800MHz, so this phone won’t work on Verizon. The MetroPCS would make more sense. So, even though it should have the LTE version of a SIM card, its still not interchangeable across carriers, even if unlocked.

  • John Thacker

    See, from Verizon we’ve only had FCC approval of a CDMA/LTE USB modem, not a phone. I still believe that if Verizon were to actually be introducing a handset by the end of this year, we would see it get FCC certification and they would have announced it by now. All they’ve said is that handsets are coming by mid-2011. As noted, this handset won’t work on Verizon because the air interface uses the wrong spectrum for Verizon.

    I stand by my prediction that Verizon will launch with modems, hotspots, and possibly netbooks at the end of this year, and that handsets will take another six months or so.

    • ken

      I agree. Sprint had modems & the Overdrives for months. Just now the Evo. You can guarantee Verizon will test and over test any device before releasing it. Modems by end of year. Phones mid next year for sure.

      • Triangle

        VZW CEO Lowell McAdam said that you wouldn’t see any LTE handsets until the middle of ’11 at a conference in May, so you’re probably right.

      • thedogscar

        Actually … he said there would be 5 ‘by’ May.

        Just like Sprint has one now, the EVO, others will come months later.

        I expect at least one LTE phone on VZW by Christmas … Verizon already has an LTE Sim Card.

        WiMax has, and will have, a much smaller worldwide foot print than LTE … the market for LTE Phones is much bigger, and will get more Phone Makers involved quicker (like LG, who is way behind in the Smart Phone Market … there first phone should be LTE if they want to get back in the game).

      • thedogscar
    • jacob

      not really , i have seen many devices approved by FCC just days before release.

    • TechPK

      Isn’t the Verizon LTE spectrum supposed to be device open? Wasn’t that was a condition of their beating Google for it?

      If so… Is it possible we might first see a “Google” phone being sold by others for the Verizon LTE network?

      • TechPK

        Here is Verizon’s statement about using any device on their LTE network…

        What is Verizon’s Open Development program and will it allowed any LTE device to connect to the Verizon Wireless network?

        SOURCE: https://www22.verizon.com/opendev/faq.aspx#Answer2

        Verizon Wireless’ Open Development Initiative (ODI) is the company’s program designed to allow and encourage the development community to create new products, applications and services beyond what Verizon Wireless offers in its portfolio and bring these to the marketplace on the Verizon Wireless network.

        As long as a device meets the ODI requirements by passing LTE compliance testing, the device can be connected to the Verizon Wireless network. The device must be FCC compliant (pass FCC equipment authorization and have an FCC ID) before it is submitted for Open Development certification.

  • Magical Glass Sandwich FTMFL

    LOL. Verizon’s getting owned by MetroPCS. How embarrassing.

  • JFA

    pfftt. Metro POS eerrggh PCS.

  • Joe

    I can’t wait to see what kind of hilarious ideas Verizon is going to have for charging people to use LTE, their 3G plans are lol-worthy as it is.

  • Totin

    I don’t understand why people talk about Verizon and Verizon has nothing to do with the elements up above. MetroPCS will take the lead very soon. But the sad part of it is that, all Americans that use Verizon will still pay thousands of dollars for a service that I will just pay one- third or less. Someday, they will open their eyes and realize how insane that money ride has been. Good Luck to all of them.

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