UAE carrier in talks with Apple to sell iPhone 5 later this year
Etisalat Chief Corporate Communication Officer Ali Al Ahmad acknowledged that his company is negotiating with Apple to carry the iPhone 5, even as the carrier begins rolling out its fourth-generation Long Term Evolution network later this year, Dubai's Gulf News reports.
"We are in talks with most smartphone manufacturers including Apple on the rollout of the 4G handset, iPhone 5 later this year. As the first telecom organisation to roll out the 4G network, LTE, in the Middle East, we have already started talking to them for the handsets and chipsets in them."
It's not immediately clear whether Al Ahmad is suggesting that the iPhone 5 will support Etisalat's LTE network, but the launch of an LTE iPhone is widely believed to have been pushed to 2012.
In the U.S., Verizon launched its LTE network late last year, while AT&T has plans to begin rolling out LTE by the end of this year. Verizon boasts real-world LTE data rates of between 5Mbps and 12Mbps downstream and 2Mbps to 5Mbps upstream. During a recent demo, AT&T showed off its LTE network running at supposed real-world download speeds of 28.87 Mbps and 10.4 Mbps for uploads.
In the race to reach true "4G" data speeds, wireless companies have scrambled to secure the necessary bandwidth and patents for LTE, sparking interest in a trove of 4G-related patents from the Canadian telecom equipment manufacturer Nortel. Last week, a report revealed that the U.S. Department of Justice has expressed concerns over Apple's interest in the patents. Meanwhile, AT&T claims that its $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA is necessary in order to obtain the required bandwidth for a nationwide LTE network.
Numerous reports have indicated that Apple's next iPhone, alternatively dubbed the iPhone 4GS and the iPhone 5, will arrive "later than usual," possibly in September. The smartphone is expected to receive upgrades in the form of an A5 processor and 8MP camera.
According to another carrier executive, France Telecom CEO Stephane Richard, Apple's next iPhone will be "smaller and thinner" and will feature an even smaller SIM card format.
9 Comments
iPhone 5?! I thought everyone decided it was going to be the iPhone 4S.
[Now that iOS 5 will be ready in the fall I think it becomes quite obvious that it would be ridiculous to use 4S]
iPhone 5?! I thought everyone decided it was going to be the iPhone 4S.
[Now that iOS 5 will be ready in the fall I think it becomes quite obvious that it would be ridiculous to use 4S]
We don't really know. iPhone 4S or iPhone 5 or even iPhone V all communicate a reference to the 5th generation iPhone. The only one that doesn't is iPhone 4G unless one or more versions has the 4G tech, which at this point is being considered as HSPA+ starting at 14.4Mb/s.
I can imagine Steve Jobs screaming on the phone, telling Apple's execs to ban Etisalat from ever carrying iPhone handsets in the future because the UAE-based carrier just casually leaks out iPhone 5 possible date launch. It was suppose to be a big secret...
These Telcos just don't know how to just STFU.
iPhone 5?! I thought everyone decided it was going to be the iPhone 4S.
[Now that iOS 5 will be ready in the fall I think it becomes quite obvious that it would be ridiculous to use 4S]
We don't really know. iPhone 4S or iPhone 5 or even iPhone V all communicate a reference to the 5th generation iPhone. The only one that doesn't is iPhone 4G unless one or more versions has the 4G tech, which at this point is being considered as HSPA+ starting at 14.4Mb/s.
Ah... I think with iOS 5 there's no way the next iPhone will be called anything BUT "iPhone 5". Keep in mind the average (literally, when it comes to tech) customer.
"Yeah, here's the latest fifth-generation iPhone 4S running iOS 5, it's better than the fourth-generation iPhone 4 (the one without the S) running iOS 5... Again, 4S is good for 5, 4 okay but not great for 5. So, yeah, you should get the fifth-generation iPhone 4S - the one running iOS 5. Oh, but to remind you it's not 4G, maybe the iPhone 5 (the phone, not the iOS) will be 4G"
*Customer's head explodes*