Questions are
arising not only about the new iPad's launch date but also about its fourth
generation network compatibility in Korea after Apple introduced it during an
event in San Francisco on Thursday.
The latest iPad, which boasts "ultra-fast wireless speeds,"is
customized to run not on the 4G Long Term Evolution network, but on the 700
megahertz and 2.1 gigahertz wireless broadband spectrums used by US mobile
carriers Verizon and AT&T.
The finding not only impacts Korea, a country currently equipped with
LTE networks nationwide using the 800 megahertz and 1.8 gigahertz wireless
broadband spectrums, but also most of the nations listed on Apple's primary
list for the new iPad release.
"I took a look at the first 10 countries receiving the iPad this
month, but all of them were servicing LTE networks on other wireless broadband
spectrums other than Canada and the US," said an industry source.
Steve Park, spokesman for Apple Korea, was not available for comment on
the issue.
Most European countries such as the UK, France and Germany are now
using the 800 megahertz and 2.6 gigahertz ranges, different from the US mobile
carriers.
The three European nations are among the list of 10 countries ?
including Hong Kong, Australia, Canada, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore and
Switzerland ? receiving the new iPad on March 16.
Apple's second list of countries getting the latest iPad by this month
featured 25 countries, but excluded Korea, the world's most wired nation, once
again as it did in the past.
"We're currently in talks with Apple regarding the iPad roll
out," said an official at SK Telecom, the nation's top mobile carrier.
There are some alternative ways that can make the LTE release in Korea
possible, like inserting a multi telecommunications chip. However, the official
said it was a move and decision which has to get Apple's green light.
Jan Dawson, a telecommunications analyst at UK-based consulting firm
Ovum, told the New York Times that the complicated issue with LTE for Apple is
that iPad needs to be offered on LTE networks with spectrum bands that are different
from country to country.
He said the US-based IT giant will have to manufacture multiple models
to be compatible with each different band ? customization which the firm has
been trying to avoid with the iPads and iPhones.
"Does Apple say we're supporting US LTE for now and risk
alienating potential customers outside the US?" he asked. "Or does it
say we have to make multiple different units in different parts of the world,
which goes against the way they've been working recently of creating a single
device?"
Cho Ji-hyun
The Korea Herald/Asia News Network
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