Reuters is reporting that China Mobile chairman Wang Jianzhou has stated that Apple is looking into China Mobile’s TD-LTE network technology that is currently underdevelopment.
An excerpt:
China Mobile Ltd, the world’s largest mobile carrier by subscribers, said on Friday that Apple Inc Chief Executive Steve Jobs has expressed interest in developing an iPhone based on the Chinese carrier’s network standard.
China Mobile is developing its next-generation TD-LTE mobile network technology and there have been talks over a possible iPhone tie-up with the carrier.
So if you’re anything like me you’re wondering what does this mean, and why do I care? Ok, so Time-division (TD-LTE) is a technology being developed by China Mobile that is superior in some ways to current FD-LTE networks. That is, TD-LTE will offer dynamic balancing of upload and download bandwidth, while also being able to use LTE chips that are currently being built into phones so compatibility with both LTE and TD-LTE networks would be a non-issue. Plus, several other networks around the world are also beginning to test their own TD-LTE networks.
In sum, this all boils down to a faster, more compatible network. That said, only a few LTE networks are coming online around the world at this time, so don’t expect Apple to adopt the standard for some time.
Now for my two-cents. Apple is undoubtedly looking into all kinds of network technologies- 4G, LTE, TD-LTE and so on. They have to so they can survive. That said, just as with 3G and the original iPhone, Apple will not adopt a new technology before it is deployed by the networks. In contrast many handset makers are cranking out “4G” phones, with terrible battery-life, just for the sake of claiming they have “4G”, when in reality coverage for the new technology is limited at this time.
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