U.S. Carriers Unlikely to Support iPhone 5's Wideband Audio, European Support More Likely

[MRU]

You are very misinformed.

European "operators" are actually much in the lead. We still have unlimited data with LTE. A few European countries don't have LTE just yet (although the UK is now rolling it out due to a regulatory hurdle). Countries like Germany, Austria etc have full fledged LTE networks.

A few countries don't have it??? There are more European counties without 4G than with, which is certainly more than 'a few'.....

Full worldwide breakdown

http://www.worldtimezone.com/gsm.html

 

[mrxak]

I'm completely unsurprised by this. If a major US carrier was going to support wideband, it would have been the first company mentioned in the keynote. When the only two companies listed first were European, it was pretty obvious that was how things were going to shake out. Besides, no US carrier is going to use more of their bandwidth if they don't absolutely have to, especially on a product that is going to sell like hotcakes made with cocaine and drizzled with heroin syrup.

So yeah, no surprises. But why does anyone care? I haven't even come close to using up my minimum voice plan minutes since my original iPhone 3G. I will say upgrading to the 4S did improve voice quality vs. the 3G, due to the microphone and speaker improvements, and there's likely some in the sixth generation iPhone as well.

Aren't all the kids now just texting each other? Isn't everyone just using the bookface or twitter or email to stay in touch with their family and friends? Voice calls are probably the least important part of the iPhone's capabilities, and it's why the carriers are so nervous about data.

 

[Therbo]

A few countries don't have it??? There are more European counties without 4G than with, which is certainly more than 'a few'.....

Full worldwide breakdown

http://www.worldtimezone.com/gsm.html

That page is very very outdated. Its missing many LTE networks.

 

[JTToft]

Didn't Philler say "Deutsch Telecom" and "Orange" will support that feature on launch day? Why those small tiny countries but not the united states?

- I wouldn't want to live in your world where the 16th most populous country in the world with over 80 million people is defined as "tiny".

It would be wise of you to be less ignorant and condescending toward other countries.

Oh, and it's Deutsche Telekom, not "Deutsch Telecom".

 

[Jon the Heretic]

Must have VoLTE

Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) uses AMR-WB as its basic encoding scheme. Anyone with LTE can support VoLTE, although none of the carriers do currently. But the better spectrum use suggests this will come sooner rather than later.

http://www.extremetech.com/electronics/125235-what-is-hd-voice

So i don't really agree with this report.

I was actually thinking of getting an iPhone 5, partially because of the promise of VoLTE to finally bring nice sounding cell calls. Might even get rid of MY landline if they did (providing the carriers don't try to screw us on pricing).

Most of my company works from home so I hate it when people call me on cell phones, and all of those people that insist on using cell phones because they gave up their landlines. They all sound like crap. They even brag about getting rid of their landlands but seem oblivious to their horrible walky talkies. Voice quality on modern cell phones is just shameful.

VoLTE needs to come to the iPhone 5 -- AT LEAST be supported when the carriers get their crap together. With LTE, the iPhone 5 should be able to handle it. It's VOIP after all---even my 2nd gen iPod Touch could handle Skype when I traveled overseas and it sounded fantastic.

I sure hope this report is wrong.

 

[slffl]

Amazing that American citizens can't even fully use the products American companies create because American companies are so $#^%# greedy!

 

[faroZ06]

I can't wait for US carriers to do this. I can hardly tell what the other person is saying in phone calls, and you can never judge the other person's tone over the phone.

 

[whoknows87]

US carriers suck, they have always sucked we are always behind when it comes to telecommunication , Europe is ahead

 

[CFreymarc]

This "wide-band audio" where the carrier transmits acoustic harmonic above 4 kHz making the voice sound more natural has been in data only app for over ten years. Skype, Yahoo Chat and IRC to name a few.

Everything going across a cellular network are digital packets thee days. This "voice" vs. "data" is just a significance with no real technical reasoning. If is only a pricing scheme. And, no there is nothing in-between carriers either. After hearing this, I'm sticking with Skype. I'm sure it will work no problem on the iPhone 5.

 

[0098386]

So long that we get it on o2 I'll be happy, when my 4S bites the dust. Strange that the US won't be supporting it.

 

[PeterQVenkman]

But it's especially gimped outside the USA, cannot even look up stores with Siri etc.

Sounds like my experience in my neighborhood!

Still even with VAT into account Apple products are wayyy more expensive outside the US.

Holy crap you aren't kidding. I just checked the UK store and the brits get their wallets MURDERED. Is all that extra cost coming from VAT?

 

[Geckotek]

Still even with VAT into account Apple products are wayyy more expensive outside the US.

Doesn't VAT stand for Value Added Tax? If so, I don't understand that acronym. What value did they add? Did they add NFC when the imported it?

 

[BiggAW]

That is too bad. Landline and cell phone both are horrible ... I never realized how bad they were until I used Skype from computer to computer using a decent headset. The sound quality difference is bigger than the difference between standard and HD TV. It sounded SO much better.

Hopefully with LTE becoming more common in the US, voice over LTE will give us better audio quality at some point in the future.

Some landlines are great, some aren't. Wideband on the iPhone would be great when talking to someone on a landline. The landline copper phones at work are incredible, and the VOIP ones in the new office are even better, although cross-connecting between them isn't so hot. OTOH, my grandparents have a 35kft line in a rural area that's pretty bad. It seems that there are a lot of factors that affect voice quality.

 

[krzyglue]

Doesn't VAT stand for Value Added Tax? If so, I don't understand that acronym. What value did they add? Did they add NFC when the imported it?

"Value added tax" is the correct economics term for a sales tax.
/offtopic

I get the odd feeling us Canadians are left out of the Wideband Audio party as well, but I may be wrong.

Oh well, will still probably upgrade from the ol' 4 to this.

 

[garbeth]

Didn't Philler say "Deutsch Telecom" and "Orange" will support that feature on launch day? Why those small tiny countries but not the united states?

Since when have Germany and France been "small tiny countries"???

 

[garbeth]

It's because they are small countries. To cover Germany/UK they only need a few towers compared to the US, which needs a lot. For each tower they have to lay down a fiber optic cable.

Where on earth do you get this information? It has very little to do with the number of towers and so much more about the capacity of said towers. In high population density areas there may be a cell site every few hundred feet. Sometimes even closer. I've been able to shout to co-workers working on one site whilst I'm working on another at times. Particularly in urban areas there is sites that you would have no idea that they even existed.
As for needing be connected by fibre optic for the back haul, wrong again. Microwave back haul is still very much alive and kicking. In many areas running fibre to the site is unpractical or simply impossible.
Companies like AT&T should have more customers which in turn should bring in more money and thus if correctly managed should be able to have more contractors working on them to upgrade sites.

 

[Logonmac]

This is not good enough, I need to hear the smacking of my friends lips as he speaks.

I really laughed on this.

 

[macnerd93]

more like european carriers are way behind since they don't have LTE yet

From what I've seen of LTE in America, that version really doesn't seem no different than 3G, its just a marketing gimmick. What all the carriers in the US seem to do is charge a fortune for every single extra.

Carriers in Europe are also on LTE if I remember correctly

Here in the UK I'm on the Three network I pay £35.00 a month, I get unlimited data and free tethering included in my plan known as the "one plan" What do you get in the US? a measly 250MB or something LOL. 4G is taking quite a while in GBR because a regulation body called offcom has to over see the process. They can determine who gets different spectrums. 4G in the UK when launched is also going to be totally different from the US system that is why "The New iPad" wont work on 4G over here, apparently its going to be a lot faster than the LTE networks used in the US.

From the Three Website
No more "limited usage" or even "fair usage" policy! No Data Limits.

Some networks have been massively reducing the amount of data their customers are allowed to use on their tariffs recently, to as little as 500MB or even 250MB. Three have taken a step in the opposite direction: All-You-Can-Eat means All-You-Can-Eat. You wont be charged for your data, no matter how much internet you use on your phone. No unexpected charges, no hassle, and No Data Limits! However, you cannot use your phone SIM in another device. If you do, you will be charged for the data used as per out of bundle charges.


http://www.store-3.co.uk/3-unlimited-data-one-plan.html

 

[boglott]

Trying to clarify some things

To me it seems that most Americans don't know that "Wideband Audio" feature. So I'll try to enlighten you

This is not Apple leading something, but it's quite common since about 1.5 years, at least in Europe. Some providers are pushing it quite actively, but it's mostly known as the marketing brand "HD voice". Most people know it under that name because that's what providers use. The used codec is called "AMR-WB" (Adaptive Multi-Rate Wideband), but no one knows except a few nerds

Listen to this and then you'll understand why it is so cool:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bwVPkt6vwEw

In Switzerland (where I come from), 2 of the 3 providers support it on their 3G network (Swisscom and Orange), but not yet in calls between those two networks. In most countries in Europe, 1 or 2 networks support it.

Except the network, you also need a Phone which supports it. Most current premium handsets do. My provider offers those in his own shops: http://shop.orange.ch/en/phones/icat/phones-hd-voice, but there are more.

Until now there was one big player missing: Apple. Now, they are catching up.
I also filled out a feedback form on the Apple home page directly after the iPhone 4S came out without it, and I know I am by far not the only one.


About LTE:
Many European providers are in the early stage of deploying it. So, except a few countries, we are way behind the US in that respect. The reason is mainly that there is not much need yet. All European providers have GSM/UMTS/HSPA networks, many are now on 21 or 42 Mbps and they still have some air left with that (HSPA+ is specified up to 168 Mbps). So they don't have the problems of Sprint and Verizon which is CDMA2000/EV-DO which limits them (maximum spec. is 14.4 Mbps).
The iPhone 5 will support hardly any of the European LTE networks, because the common frequencies for LTE over here are 800MHz (Band 20) and 2600 MHz (Band 7), which are not supported by the iPhone 5 or new iPad. EverythingEverywhere in UK and T-Mobile in Germany also operate networks which use 1800 MHz in some spots (Band 3). This is why the iPhone 5 works at those spots.

 

[Dr McKay]

Sounds like my experience in my neighborhood!






Holy crap you aren't kidding. I just checked the UK store and the brits get their wallets MURDERED. Is all that extra cost coming from VAT?

VAT in the UK is currently 20%

 

[Therbo]

Sounds like my experience in my neighborhood!

Holy crap you aren't kidding. I just checked the UK store and the brits get their wallets MURDERED. Is all that extra cost coming from VAT?

Apple charge a foreign tax + vat (however they tax dodge), but then we can get unlimited data for £12 ($19) a month.

 

[b_scott]

I realize there are situations where it makes sense to switch to shared data. However, many people are on limited plans on the old plans and now can't get facetime over 3g... even though they are on a limited plan simply because they refuse to pay $30/month extra for it.

well I was wrong anyway - it was $110 for the first user, then $40 each additional. So we're paying about the same.

 

[charlituna]

So i am paying money for a "wideband audio" feature that at verizon i cannot access or use?

Among other features. But if this one is that important to you, don't buy the phone until it is supported

 

[axual]

Memo to US Carriers

If you're not ready or prepared for current and future growth, then don't sell the iPhone.

 

[Marcus-k]

isn't most of the population in one or two cities?

in the US we have LOTS of people living away from cities. like 30km and farther. spread out too

We have great coverage over the entire country, even when traveling.