Google and Apple are investing in RF technology to support multiple carrier bands on one device, meaning that users will be able to take their smartphones and tablets from one service provider to another without swapping SIM cards or voiding warranties. Google’s Nexus 5 supports the LTE networks of AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile US in one device. It also supports the carriers’ GSM and CDMA bands in the United States, so a customer who buys the phone from Sprint, for example, can take the same phone to AT&T or T-Mobile US.
Apple has not yet produced a truly portable iPhone, but the iPad Air’s portability suggests that the iPhone may not be far behind. “A big deal with the iPad Air was that they were able to, with a singular cellular interface, support all the carriers in the US with one LTE version,” said analyst Andrew Rassweiler of IHS iSuppli. “Theoretically you can take that iPad Air pretty much anywhere to any carrier and it will work.”
“That is not the case with the 5s yet,” said Rassweiler. “But I think that one area that consumers don’t appreciate, where some of this money is being spent on innovation, is on that RF front end. … It almost seems like overkill to some, it’s counterintuitive. If one carrier needs these five bands and this other carrier needs five different bands, why would you build one device with ten bands because now you are overspending on support that isn’t needed at any given time?”
Rassweiler argues that for Apple this is actually money well spent. “Apple’s philosophy has been: ultimately it serves everyone’s interest best to have one design that fits all, because they have fewer SKUs to manage, it gives consumers more portability and it gives Apple much more manageability and much more scale,” he said. “If you’re buying the same components from the same vendors for all your products it’s really going to improve your leverage situation.”
“In the US a VZW/AT&T combo is becoming widely requested,” said Eran Eshed, CEO of Altair Semiconductor, which makes LTE-only modems for mobile devices. “The motivation to create a single SKU that could serve multiple (carrier) markets has always been there and is valid in the case of LTE-only as well.”
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