Possibilities for LTE Roaming/Device Sharing, China/Europe (2600mhz and 800mhz)

[Thomas L.]

I wasn't sure where to post this, but since it envolves LTE I thought here would be as good a place as any:

 

If I remember correctly, Clearwire and China Mobile signed some kind of memorandum of understanding re: deployment of TDD-LTE and the sharing of technology... is it pretty safe to say that that will lead to roaming between Clearwire and China Mobile's TDD-LTE network? What are the implications for device costs for Clearwire/Clearwire's wholesale customers? Would this be any motivation for Clearwire to eventually go beyond their current "hotspot carrier offload" strategy? Could

 

The other question is about European roaming - I know that the European digital dividend is in the 800mhz block, and I just again saw that, for example, some 800mhz spectrum was sold in Denmark for LTE deployment... is there any chance of Sprint phones, when they can support 800mhz LTE, would include the ability to work at all in European markets with 800mhz LTE, or will they really just be tuning it to that small amount of 800mhz spectrum that Sprint has? What about devices that work on Clearwire's 2600mhz spectrum also being able to roam onto the 2500mhz spectrum that so much of the world is deploying LTE in?

 

I've been dying of curiosity about these questions for awhile and I'd love any insight you guys could offer!

 

Thanks!

 

Tommy

[xcharles718]

If I remember correctly, the TDI consortium primary goals includes roaming between TD-LTE networks worldwide.Sprint 800MHz LTE doesn't align with Europe's 800MHz. It does more closely follow the 800MHz band used in southeast Asia. I know that theoretically, you should be able to put a South Korean LTE SIM in a Sprint LTE phone and it should work(at least LTE should).-Xavier

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[jefbal99]

I thought Sprints SIM was built in and not interchangeable

 

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[rjw]

I thought Sprints SIM was built in and not interchangeable

 

Sent from my CM9 Epic 4g Touch using Forum Runner

 

You are correct.. All currently released 4G LTE devices from Sprint do not have interchangeable SIM cards..

[S4GRU]

If Sprint worked out roaming deals with these international LTE companies in supported bands, then a change of SIM is unnecessary. However, for international LTE use with a non roaming partner within a supported band would require a purchase of a local SIM. However, as pointed out above, since Sprint has sealed SIMs, this won't be possible.

 

I think Sprint will get to the point of LTE international roaming with partners that use the same bands in the next 12 months.

 

Robert via Kindle Fire using Forum Runner

[xcharles718]

Why does Sprint keep SIMs internal? Will it stay this way for the foreseeable future?

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[S4GRU]

Why does Sprint keep SIMs internal? Will it stay this way for the foreseeable future?

Sent from my HTC Titan using Board Express

 

I don't know and I don't know.

 

Robert via Kindle Fire using Forum Runner

[Steven800]

They dont do it on all phones just LTE ones.

[ChadBroChillz]

I hope Sprint decides to open up the Sim slot for people.

[WiWavelength]

The other question is about European roaming - I know that the European digital dividend is in the 800mhz block, and I just again saw that, for example, some 800mhz spectrum was sold in Denmark for LTE deployment... is there any chance of Sprint phones, when they can support 800mhz LTE, would include the ability to work at all in European markets with 800mhz LTE, or will they really just be tuning it to that small amount of 800mhz spectrum that Sprint has?

 

Whenever we refer to wireless bands by frequency (e.g. 800 MHz, 1900 MHz, etc.), keep in mind that those are only approximations for swaths of many, many frequencies. Thus, the expressed frequency may be just the nearest multiple of 50 or 100, and the band itself may not even contain that specific frequency. For example, the SMR 800 MHz band does not actually include 800 MHz.

 

In the case of the EU, its 800 MHz band will come from refarmed broadcast TV spectrum and is called (at least colloquially) Digital Dividend 800 MHz. Digital Dividend 800 MHz has an inverted frequency duplex (i.e. its uplink is higher in frequency, its downlink lower in frequency) and a 41 MHz duplex offset (i.e. separation between uplink and downlink). Both of those FDD characteristics make Digital Dividend 800 MHz incompatible with SMR 800 MHz, Cellular 850 MHz, and other compatible 800/850 MHz bands around the world.

 

And that is a general principle: if a band has an inverted frequency duplex or a different duplex offset, then it is not compatible with other bands.

 

AJ

[pyroscott]

They dont do it on all phones just LTE ones.

 

The only sprint phone with an accessible sim for sprint service is the iPhone. I'm sure sprint would love to have that locked up too.

 

And before anyone tries it, I am strictly talking Sprint phones, not nextel

 

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[drreif]

My old TP2 had a SIM that could be replaced

[xcharles718]

My old TP2 had a SIM that could be replaced

It was a world phone. The SIM slot is for international use.

[NiteSnow]

Why does Sprint keep SIMs internal? Will it stay this way for the foreseeable future?

Sent from my HTC Titan using Board Express

 

I would assume they keep sims internal because the phones you will be buying from sprint won't support any other LTE band classes therefore you can't use them on any other networks anyways so there's no point in having them removable. And it's also likely that they're doing this to keep users from moving sim cards from their phone to their tablet/data card assuming they buy/find one that supports sprints LTE band classes and using tons and tons of data. This could also be being done to cut costs on wasted customer support resources dealing with idiots who think they can just move LTE RUIMs from one device to another and have working CDMA voice. (There may be a work around for that I think I remember verizon setting up some ridiculous system to auth cdma with LTE RUIM which ended up going down and causing a lot of problems for their network but i'm not too sure)

[Thomas L.]

I would assume they keep sims internal because the phones you will be buying from sprint won't support any other LTE band classes therefore you can't use them on any other networks anyways so there's no point in having them removable. And it's also likely that they're doing this to keep users from moving sim cards from their phone to their tablet/data card assuming they buy/find one that supports sprints LTE band classes and using tons and tons of data. This could also be being done to cut costs on wasted customer support resources dealing with idiots who think they can just move LTE RUIMs from one device to another and have working CDMA voice. (There may be a work around for that I think I remember verizon setting up some ridiculous system to auth cdma with LTE RUIM which ended up going down and causing a lot of problems for their network but i'm not too sure)

 

Right, I know that you can move a SIM card from any VZW LTE device to another, and it will move CDMA service as well. It's great, to be totally honest, I hope that Sprint gets there, SOON!

[Steven800]

 

 

The only sprint phone with an accessible sim for sprint service is the iPhone. I'm sure sprint would love to have that locked up too.

 

And before anyone tries it, I am strictly talking Sprint phones, not nextel

 

Sent from my Jelly Bean Toro using Forum Runner

that's what I'm talking bout sprint world phones the sims are interchangeable and isn't possible to just take the phone apart and remove the sim or no?

[NiteSnow]

that's what I'm talking bout sprint world phones the sims are interchangeable and isn't possible to just take the phone apart and remove the sim or no?

 

No it's embedded, it's an onboard version of the RUIM (Removable User Identity Module).

[pyroscott]

that's what I'm talking bout sprint world phones the sims are interchangeable and isn't possible to just take the phone apart and remove the sim or no?

 

I would think it would be possible... but who knows what kind of smart software network vision has...

 

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[NiteSnow]

Right, I know that you can move a SIM card from any VZW LTE device to another, and it will move CDMA service as well. It's great, to be totally honest, I hope that Sprint gets there, SOON!

 

They probably want to have a smooth LTE roll out because people love to complain. It would be nice though, But it really only takes a few seconds to either call Sprint and activate the phone on your account or go online and switch the phones out.