(Reuters) - Apple's iPhone 5, launched to great fanfare in the United States on Wednesday, will not work on superfast mobile broadband networks in much of Europe, potentially confusing consumers and setting back the development of 4G services in the region.
The problem lies in the range of spectrum - the airwaves used to carry mobile signals - used in Europe. The iPhone 5 is not compatible with 4G services on the 800MHz and 2.6GHz bands deployed across much of western Europe, including Spain, Italy and France. Instead, it works on the 1.8GHz band, which is still being used for voice calls by most operators in Europe.
Apple will produce three models of the iPhone: one optimized for U.S. carrier AT&T's network and spectrum bands, another for Sprint and Verizon's U.S. norms and a third for the rest of the world, including two European operators... Source/Origin >> Read More
