AT&T starts switching to LTE-compatible SIM cards

We just received a shot of an internal AT&T memo detailing the carrier’s intention to start transitioning to LTE-capable SIM cards. AT&T has started preparing employees for a new SIM card that will be used for LTE handsets and devices, all except the iPhone 4 since that uses a microSIM card. AT&T tells employees to verify the SIM card is correct by checking the SKU on the card even though the new LTE cards are visibly different, just to be safe we’re assuming. It also appears there will be up to “eight different SIMs” during the transition, so verifying the SKU might be the only way to go. Well, it’s a start, no?

Tags: 4G, AT&T, Card, exclusive, internal, iPhone 4, leaked, LTE, microSIM, SIM, sku

Comments

Mgl323

LTE iphone 4G/5 ?
http://twitter.com/chrispgriffin Chris Griffin

Well that’s neat.

That’s all the emotion I could muster up for that.
JJFNIGHTS80

Yeah right what ever AT&T you still got rid of our unlimited data phones

http://twitter.com/chrispgriffin Chris Griffin

I still have my unlimited data phone… Did they come to your house and take yours?

jpwillis

Yup mines still unlimited too
frank

i still have my unlimited if you dont change your plan you are alrighty grandfathered into your unlimited so dont ever change it or u will loose it
Thatguy

Upgrade and you lose it, sad fact

http://www.xti9.com/pics/focusftl.jpg yourmom

I have unlimited too.
Mgl323

They didn’t get rid of mine. And besides, it’s inevitable that major carriers such as At&t, Verizon, and maybe Sprint (T-mobile perhaps?) will get rid of the unlimited data plans.
Eric Walker

What are you talking about? I still have my unlimited 5GB.

Jon

I guess you missed the inevitable/eventually part….

all will go that way eventually
jpwillis

Vive la grandfathered data plan!!!!!

GoogleGuy

Unlimited usage, doesn’t mean unlimited bandwidth. There was never such a thing as unlimited bandwidth, but you can use whenever you want, however you want, whatever you want. You guys are misinterpreting the term “unlimited”.

Let me tell you what he

No, the carriers are MISUSING the word “unlimited” with dubious wording.

http://www.xti9.com/pics/focusftl.jpg yourmom

LTE WORLD B*TCHES!!!

/humor

Herby130

First off this sounds more like a publicity stunt to me. They are a ways out and haven’t even started to roll out the network. Whatever AT&T.

If AT&T actually used 850 MHz nationwide I wouldn’t mind using them. However, in Pensacola FL and a lot of their 3G coverage area still is 1900. Hello, same crap service as T-Mobile…. At least Verizon is running its 3G spectrum nationwide where you can get a signal in a building!

I really don’t mind AT&T I just don’t know what they were thinking. It’s like T-Mobile. Yes they have 3G coverage and it’s somewhere in the 2100 MHz Very poor in building coverage.

Yeah, I know the 4G LTE network is rolling out on the 700 MHZ but what about the now?

boyg

ATT is so much better then shitty, slow verizon… cant even use the internet while on your phone! AHAHAHAHAHA

lechero

better not necessarily, faster yes much faster, 10x faster in my market. consistent 6.2mbps vs verizons 600kbps

Celz

Tell yourself whatever you have to so you feel better at night… Those map for that commercials were facts, so make sure you stay connected, literally, to a tower..
justme

But if you throw vzw ”3g” map next to a map from at&t showing edge its identical… And well that’s apples to apples
lechero

im not talking maps slap-ass, im talking about actual speed tests ive done on my phone, and my comment is about speed where the fuck did you come up with coverage.

The Hammer

Awesome. Lte. So they can drop my calls faster.
MacMan

If you build it they will come. Now hurry the F up !!!
lechero

Oh what a slap in the face it would be if all the money that att didnt spend on their 3g infrastructure was used for lte and they end up beating everyone out.

Mgl323

If you mean the big four carriers then yeah, other than that, Metro PCS was the first to roll out LTE before the major carriers.

lechero

tis what i meant, selling phones for so long ive learned to ignore smaller carriers they tend to get bought out by the big four sooner or later.
Mike

Talk to someone that has done a speed test on that MetroPCS LTE network… It’s down near 2G speeds.. and that’s in 2 different markets. Their LTE is in name only… it doesn’t have any balls to back it up with actual speeds yet.

RDUKE

8 different sims? WHY?

Let me tell you what he

More smoke, more mirrors.

Celz

Seriously, I thought LTE tests (like Sprint) and LTE towers (like VZW) came before sim cards.. But what the hell do I know
Joe

Sprint doesn’t run LTE, it runs Wimax, sorta like wifi only a little wider of range.

gee

for what they don’t even have a complete 3G network.

Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone) at: Holtsville Atlantic Ocean

justme

Considering vzw doesn’t have it at all the at&t is in a good spot then aren’t they

Hackman

At&t is the best in WV by far!
Gary

I guess you guys missed the other pages of the document… there are also LTE micro sim cards coming out as well.
fidel castro

F#*# at&t and their eight different flavors of sim cards, plus the micro sim for the iphone4.
Norm

Sim cards are stupid. VZW doesn’t have them, so why should I care about this?

justme

Because the rest of the world uses them would be a good place to start
Celz

All LTE even VZW uses Sim Cards and many VZW and Sprint CDMA phones use Sim Cards for global roaming.. ESN phones have a theft prevention factor because a stolen CDMA phone is worthless (unless you find worth on activating it on Metro Piece of …) but Sim Cards are easier because you dont have to activate a phone every time you want to switch phone models.. So there are pluses and minuses with each camp..

Norm

I was unaware of that. Thank you. But I still prefer VZW’s way.

What’sThePointATT?

What’s the point of making a SIM card for LTE?

Isn’t that what the built in radio chipsets are for?

Sounds like a publicity stunt if you ask me.

Mike

The same reason GSM uses SIM cards… the chipset is the frequency, the SIM card verifies you’re supposed to be on the network and what account to bill your calls/data usage to.

Sarah Palin

T Mobile’s 2100 Mhz blows just like Monica Lewinski on Bill Clinton. Can’t wait for AT&T’s 700 Mhz to dominate!

Celz

700 mhz is better spectrum but the world is using 2100+ mhz for 4G.. And Sprint sure as hell is making it work, and as of now Tmo’s HSPA is kickin AT&T’s @$$…

Joe

http://www.pcworld.com/article/189592/atandt_roars_back_in_pcworlds_second_3g_wireless_performance_test.html

Allen Walker

Lol oh norm. Shut up.
Dogfather

Slow-rizon is slow even in their LTE……the point of making SIM compatible is their 3G network is still usefull for years to come unlike 3G CDMA wich is already obsolete and got beat up anywhere in the world by HSPA, but fanboys refuse to accept that, lets wait for slow-rizon to get the iphone if they ever get it we all wanna watch and see how that little beast destroy those CDMA pipes, and if they’re slow with voice and date one at the time I can’t imagine how slowwww is gonna be for that crappy obsolete 3G when voice and data run at the same time in one single fixed channel, good luck fanboyzzzzzz……!!!!
Fanboi

LTE sim cards? If your phone isnt 4G capable then what is the point of getting an LTE sim card?

Remember the first iPhone was only capable of seeing Edge? Even though you had a 3G sim card the phone still couldnt access AT&Ts 3G network, so wouldnt the same hold true for LTE/4G? Dont you have to have a cell phone that is 4G ready?

Nic

you dont get an LTE SIM if you have a regular device. the only device you need an LTE SIM in right now is the LG Adrenaline as it is/will be a LTE Device.
Joeldf

I figure they are preparing for the future. My BB Pearl 8100 that I got 4 years ago came with a 3G SIM card. Of course, none of the Blackberries at the time did 3G. In fact, AT&T had very few phones overall that did. But that SIM card can still be used in any phone today (except for the ones that take the MicroSIM, of course), including many of the current phones that can now do 3G.

http://www.indianic.com/yahoo-store-professional-package.html yahoo store development

You ave really nice Blog here and I am saving it in my favorite list. Keep posting similar stuff.
JJFNIGHTS80

I could care less bout AT&T since I’m still stuck without my UNLIMITED DATA PLANS. Why would anybody cares bout their LTE’s? And that says instead of the iPhone 4?
Spdr-Mn

And here…we…go…
Dakota

Well, no. The “eight different SIMs” thing is because of the different older SIM SKUs out there.

73043 (the “current” 3G SIM),
71247 (an older 3G SIM),
71234 (yet older SIM),
73039 (3G GoPhone SIM),
RTL73043 (MicroSIM),
64205g (Cingular – but who knows, some people might just still have an ancient 3G device)

And then the new 73057 SKU for the “LTE” SIMs makes seven… hm.
Screw You

People who complain about “unlimited data plans” going away are truly stupid. Know the facts before speaking. I work for AT&T and there are two reasons why they have tiered data plans now. One, 98.4% of Smartphone users never used beyond 2GB of data on their devices. If you don’t believe me, check your bill statement for data usage. You’re most likely just shelling out extra money for something you don’t even need. Two, there were the first to make data plans for Smartphones more affordable for competition’s sake against other providers. Verizon is a joke. Sprint is a joke. Verizon customers are always crying about the iPhone. Instead of whining about AT&T, why don’t you ask Ivan Seidenberg why they didn’t take the iPhone when it was offered to them first. And their data speeds are ridiculous. Look up PC World’s site and results for data speeds. Verizon is dead slow at average of 800 Kbps compared to AT&T’s as the fastest with an average of 2.3 Mbps. Spint tries to lower there unlimited everything plans yet you still don’t have customers. CDMA carriers need to move with the rest of the world and join the GSM network.It’s been over ten years for crying out loud. Oh and coverage. It’s understandable that certain places out in the real world may lack service but know the facts again people. Read the fine prints of any wireless carrier’s guides. Service is NOT guaranteed indoors. You wanna know why Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile may have great coverage? Because you don’t have over 7 million people that just jumped on your networks in the past four years. I wish Verizon gets the iPhone so that people can cry and lash out at them. People always moan and complain about how AT&T has exclusive rights to the iPhone. So what? I’m an Android OS user and I want the EVO or Droid X but I don’t cry about it. When the Motorola RAZR first came out in the US, Cingular had three years of exclusivity of it before any other carriers had it. AT&T has money and they so much money that they can buy exclusivity rights if they truly want it. And guess who’s gonna be the exclusive carrier for Windows 7? That’s right, it’s AT&T and this will now give AT&T every mobile OS in existence. Windows 7, Android, iPhone OS, BlackBerry OS, webOS, and even crappy Symbian OS.

mosillone

All great points except I think TMO is getting Windows 7 phones as well?
http://twitter.com/RodT3 RodT3

Im stupid. Wow. I do blast through data. I use a G2 because up until the galaxy s came or “captivate” at&t had no real droid phones on the level of verizon or tmobile and I have had to return (captivate) it three times to get some freaking GPS. Love the device but it has issues amazingly only on at&t. Sprint actually has the best of every manufacture right now. Have you seen the Evo? Verizon is a droid shop that is shit hot. I have the G2 which is on T-mobile cause i like android vanilla and i like keyboards. The only reason i have at&t service is my family and my extensive international travel. At&t is the evil i put up with not the system i would desire. Oh they cost more than everyone. I would dream of a day where real 4g sim tech is on all carriers but until then i will keep doing my hodge podge of devices.

bgr

so one question above the rest. wheres the let “micro sims?”

AT&T starts switching to LTE-compatible SIM cards

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