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There's no requirement they be backwards compatible at all. Networks will still stock standard and micro SIMs for other devices.

In that case sales for the iPhone 5 will be very poor in comparison to the iPhone 4/4S.

I can't imagine many of the millions and millions of businessmen and the likes wanting to initiate 2 SIM swaps per day for months on end before having to upgrade either their company supplied phone or personal device.
 
I think it comes down to Ofcom, not EE.

This article suggests that Ofcom could potentially change the spectrum bands they're selling to match the current UK iPhone 5 model. http://thenextweb.com/apple/2012/09...mited-uk-4g-lte-support-freezing-vodafone-o2/

I could never see this happening though considering that the bands set for auction are old TV spectrum.

The fallout from this will be terrible when consumers (the Joe Bloggs public) with new iPhone 5s can't connect to 4G next year. I wouldn't want to work in one of the competitor customer service teams!
 
So do you think this will work?

1. Buy my 32GB iPhone 5 from Apple sim-free.
2. Get a contract with Orange.
3. When it becomes available, transfer to EE for 4G.

Good or bad idea?

Why buy it unlocked and spend over £600 on the phone and then get a contract with orange. Just buy the phone at orange with a contract. Guaranteed wayy cheaper
 
In that case sales for the iPhone 5 will be very poor in comparison to the iPhone 4/4S.

I can't imagine many of the millions and millions of businessmen and the likes wanting to initiate 2 SIM swaps per day for months on end before having to upgrade either their company supplied phone or personal device.

Most people buy on a contract and those people will be supplied with new Nano SIMs anyway. It's only the minority (like us geeks) who buy them unlocked who will face problems trying to get a hold of Nano SIMs, but even then we should be fine in a week or so on the big networks, only those on smaller networks like giffgaff have a real problem.
 
I will be ordering my Nano-SIM from 3 tomorrow!

Love my all-you-can-eat data & tethering for £15 a month!
 
The next web have an article regarding the issue of iPhone 5 not supporting LTE on O2 and Vodaphone (even when they eventually get to have their bands operational following the OFCOM auction).

Voda have issued a statement about how great their 3g network is - conspicuously avoiding answering the question about LTE on the iPhone and O2 has yet to officially respond.

http://thenextweb.com/apple/2012/09/12/apples-iphone-5-will-contain-limited-uk-4g-lte-support-freezing-vodafone-o2/

Now my understanding (not mentioned in the article but I've read it somewhere) is that O2 owns a small amount of the 1800Mhz band that EE and Three will be using and is supported by the iPhone but where in the UK will it cover and how much of it can they re-farm?
 
Woohoo! Just preordered my iPhone 5!

Carphone Warehouse guarantee launch day availability if you pay a (refundable!) £29 deposit. The deal is only available over the phone til midnight though.

And yes, I did ask some very searching questions of the person I spoke to. To be fair, she had all the answers.
 
The UK iPhone does support those being auctioned off by OFCOM but doesn't list them as so because non of those frequencies are being used at the time of it's launch.

GSM model A1428*: UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz); LTE (Bands 4 and 17)

CDMA model A1429*: CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (800, 1900, 2100 MHz); UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz); LTE (Bands 1, 3, 5, 13, 25)

GSM model A1429*: UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz); LTE (Bands 1, 3, 5)
802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi (802.11n 2.4GHz and 5GHz)
Bluetooth 4.0 wireless technology
 
Woohoo! Just preordered my iPhone 5!

Carphone Warehouse guarantee launch day availability if you pay a (refundable!) £29 deposit. The deal is only available over the phone til midnight though.

And yes, I did ask some very searching questions of the person I spoke to. To be fair, she had all the answers.

So you're definitely getting it on launch day? Did you buy it PAYG or arrange a contract?
 
I will be ordering my Nano-SIM from 3 tomorrow!

Love my all-you-can-eat data & tethering for £15 a month!

Officially, the £15 pm tariff doesn't permit tethering.

I know people do/have done it, but you run the risk that they will prevent it at any moment.
 
Woohoo! Just preordered my iPhone 5!

Carphone Warehouse guarantee launch day availability if you pay a (refundable!) £29 deposit. The deal is only available over the phone til midnight though.

And yes, I did ask some very searching questions of the person I spoke to. To be fair, she had all the answers.

They're only accepting the deposit if you want a contract phone. If it's for the handset only, you can simply 'register your interest'.
 
hey guys

just wanted to check my plans should all be fine...

Im out of contract on an ip4 contract so i can just grab an ip5 at the subsidised cost right? as i did with 3g - ip4. (im guessing itll be around £280 for a 32gb ip5 on the £32 24month?) based off ip4s prices...

Just a case of up early on launch morning to stand outside an o2 store for 2 hours and sort it all there?

Only concern is im moving my contract holders name and payments from my parent to myself, shouldn't cause any issues?

Cheers for any help from anyone with experience just want to make sure i wont run into any troubles!
 
The UK iPhone does support those being auctioned off by OFCOM but doesn't list them as so because non of those frequencies are being used at the time of it's launch.

I would be amazed if it didn't support 800 and 2.6 as pretty much every European 4G operator uses those frequencies. Poor form from Apple not making this clear if your statement is true
 
Woohoo! Just preordered my iPhone 5!

Carphone Warehouse guarantee launch day availability if you pay a (refundable!) £29 deposit. The deal is only available over the phone til midnight though.

And yes, I did ask some very searching questions of the person I spoke to. To be fair, she had all the answers.

It's the old "Caveat Emptor" (buyer beware) with CPW.

They advertise their iPhones as "SIM Free", which is technically true, what they don't emphasise is the fact that they will lock to the first SIM you insert.

So, a very different iPhone to the one would would buy from Apple.

You have been warned! :p
 
Officially, the £15 pm tariff doesn't permit tethering.

I know people do/have done it, but you run the risk that they will prevent it at any moment.

It's the same deal with giffgaff too. I wonder how many people they actually catch for tethering though? As long as you're careful I can't imagine there'd be any problems.

Personally I won't risk it on giffgaff anyway because I don't wanna lose my payback.
 
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