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Apple iPhone 5 to support T-Mobile and all five 3G bands in addition to CDMA?

Published Apr 25th, 2011 12:08PM EDT
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This isn’t based on anything more than a loose tip and some speculation on my part, but it would make sense, especially in the eyes of Apple and its quest to ship fewer SKUs. It has been widely rumored that the next iPhone will support CDMA and GSM frequencies, thus eliminating the need for Apple to ship different models to CDMA and GSM carriers. We exclusively reported that Apple is testing an iPhone for T-Mobile USA, but what if this was taken one step further? What if the iPhone 5 not only supported both CDMA and GSM networks, but also supported all five 3G bands in use today? This would open up T-Mobile USA’s 33 million subscribers to Apple’s iconic handset, while also some smaller carriers like WIND in Canada and others. Additionally, if AT&T’s T-Mobile USA acquisition is approved, great — T-Mobile USA’s “4G” network would be immediately available to help lighten the load on AT&T’s current network. If the merger isn’t approved, then Apple has immediate access to another large carrier with its iPhone 5 instead of having to work on another model separately. One phone to rule them all, right?

Jonathan S. Geller
Jonathan Geller Founder, President & Editor-in-chief

Jonathan S. Geller founded Boy Genius Report, now known as BGR, in 2006. It became the biggest mobile news destination in the world by the end of 2009, and BGR was acquired by leading digital media company PMC in April 2010.

Jonathan is President of BGR Media, LLC., and Editor-in-chief of the BGR website.

What started as a side project at the age of 16, quickly transpired into 24-hour days and nights of sharing exclusive and breaking news about the mobile communications industry. BGR now reaches up to 100 million readers a month through the website, syndication partners, and additional channels.