Regional operator U.S. Cellular looks set to join the dark side, announcing plans to offer Apple products by the end of the year. The carrier had originally decided to not offer products from the computing giant citing high costs associated with subsidizing devices for consumers.
The carrier was not specific in which Apple products it will carry, only stating that it will offer Apple products later this year. It’s expected that those products will include the iPhone 5 or a similar variant as U.S. Cellular cited the need to increase customer loyalty.
One sticking point could be U.S. Cellular’s current LTE network that relies on a combination of lower 700 MHz spectrum from the notorious A-Block and more traditional 850 MHz spectrum holdings depending on the market. The current CDMA version of the iPhone 5 that is offered by a number of operators with legacy CDMA systems lacks support for LTE in the 700 MHz A-Block, though it does provide LTE support for the 850 MHz band. That may limit where U.S. Cellular can offer the device if they maintain current spectrum band support.
One way around this could be through a roaming agreement with Sprint Nextel, which announced at the recent Competitive Carriers Association event plans to begin offering roaming across its LTE network running in the 1.9 GHz band. The carrier said it has begun to work on providing specifications that would allow for roaming between the carrier’s current LTE service and those of carriers that are looking to rollout LTE services in the 700 MHz, 850 MHz and 1.9 GHz bands. A Sprint Nextel spokesman added that the 700 MHz support would include the lower A-, B- and C-Bands, also known as Band Class 12.
U.S. Cellular has had a recent history with Sprint Nextel in selling off some of its markets and spectrum late last year.
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