T-Mobile's New iPhone 5 Goes Through FCC Trials

By Tomshardware
published

New iPhone 5 A1428 clears FCC trails; no hardware carrier lock.

Ever since T-Mobile USA announced its new iPhone 5 (opens in new tab) with its incredible new pricing strategy, questions have been flying around concerning T-Mobile's business models, competitive pricing, U.S. market share and whether the company's current network infrastructure can support such a bandwidth hungry device. However, now focus is starting to shift to the actual phone, which finally went through the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) trials this week.


Not many changes have been made to the iPhone as it is still classified as an iPhone 5. The primary change is the 42Mbps HSPA+ radio that works on AWS frequencies as used by UnCarrier and Canada's Wind. After this, Apple is probably going to be silent on the mobile front for the time being as they focus their efforts on the rumoured to be upcoming next-gen iPhone.

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Tomshardware
Tomshardware

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15 Comments Comment from the forums
  • g-unit1111
    500MB on the basic plan? I'd hardly call that a "killer deal".
    Reply
  • senkasaw
    g-unit1111500MB on the basic plan? I'd hardly call that a "killer deal".If 500MB is not enough then get a non-basic plan. (and it is not just 500MB, it is 500MB of high speed...after which they just throttle the connection)
    Reply
  • slomo4sho
    No overage fees and I have yet to be throttled on my $30 5GB prepaid plan (which appears to be no longer available).

    Lets see if this move will help transition the US in obtaining better quality service at lower prices similar to the rest of the world...
    Reply
  • sundragon
    More competition for AT&T, Verizon, the better for consumers.
    Reply
  • acadia11
    I phone 5 sucks.
    Reply
  • acadia11
    g-unit1111500MB on the basic plan? I'd hardly call that a "killer deal".
    No the plan is unlimited, it's 500mb allowed for tethering
    Reply
  • JackFrost860
    acadia11I phone 5 sucks.The only thing that sucks are people like you that make pointless and unhelpful comments. Just shut up if you haven't anything constructive to say.
    Reply
  • g-unit1111
    10566019 said:
    g-unit1111500MB on the basic plan? I'd hardly call that a "killer deal".
    No the plan is unlimited, it's 500mb allowed for tethering

    Oh they didn't mention that when I was looking through the 10 pages of legal mumbo jumbo.
    Reply
  • sykozis
    g-unit1111500MB on the basic plan? I'd hardly call that a "killer deal".$50 for unlimited talk, text and 500mb of 4G with unlimited Edge.....that is a killer deal compared to what you get from Verizon. For $80, Verizon gives you unlimited talk, text and 1GB data after which they start tacking on overage fees. If you're like me and the data package is irrelevant....Verizon is a ripoff. I pay Verizon $120 a month for 2 smartphones with unlimited talk, text and 1GB data. With T-Mo...I'll pay $80/month for unlimited talk, text and 500mb of 4G data (which I'll never use all of anyway) on 2 smartphones. For only $90 a month, I can get the same 1GB that I currently have with Verizon....and still have unlimited Edge access after that 1GB is used up. Plus, T-Mo no longer makes you sign a service contract....so you can leave whenever you want. T-Mobile has become the first national carrier to use a pre-paid model....and still finance your phone instead of charging you full retail up front (and offer a better value than current pre-paid services).

    acadia11No the plan is unlimited, it's 500mb allowed for tetheringIt's 500mb of 4G access...after which, you're reduced to their Edge network.
    Reply
  • sykozis
    g-unit1111Oh they didn't mention that when I was looking through the 10 pages of legal mumbo jumbo.It wasn't mentioned, because that's not the point of the limitation. The "data package" you pay for....is for 4G access, period. This is the only drawback to their service. You pay for limited 4G data access.....BUT, they give you access to their Edge (2G I believe) network with no data limit in case you exceed the 4G data limit. Basically, it ends up being unlimited Edge (2G, I believe) data with limited 4G data. With access to their Edge data network, you can still tether other devices and chew up as much data as possible in a month.
    Reply