[ NNSquad ] Re: Unlocked HTC Android G1 on AT&T Will Be S-l-o-w

["Steve Wildstrom \(BusinessWeek\)" <steve_wildstrom@wdc.exchange.businessweek.com>]

Lauren:

You're right that the G1 as released by T-Mobile will be slow on the
AT&T network, but wrong about the reasons and, therefore, your
speculation about motivation is also off.

T-Mobile's U.S. 3G uses a technology called AWS and works on a pair of
frequencies, Tx at 1700 MHz and Rx at 2100 and the G1 is designed to
accommodate this oddball standard. In Europe, 3G service is Tx/Rx at
2100. AT&T runs both GSM/GPRS and UMTS/HSPA  at 850 and 1900 Mhz. The G1
uses those frequencies of GSM but not 3G.

The G1 was designed for worldwide use and in that context, both T-Mo USA
and AT&T are outliers. But since AT&T is not a member of the Open
Handset Alliance, I don't think either Google or HTC saw any need to
accommodate their network.

Steve Wildstrom        Technology & You columnist
BusinessWeek
1200 G St NW
Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20005
www.businessweek.com/technology/wildstrom.htm
<http://www.businessweek.com/technology/wildstrom.htm>

   [ Hi Steve.  I'm familiar with the 3G frequency bands situation,
     though I purposely didn't get into the details in that item to
     avoid being unnecessarily technical.  Effectively though (as
     you note), AT&T has multiple frequencies to use for 3G (though
     as far as I know they mostly use 1900 still and are much less
     deployed with 850 3G), and for T-Mobile you *must* support 1700
     or no 3G.

     But from a design standpoint, for a new phone, supporting both the
     AT&T- and T-Mobile-style 3G is completely reasonable and not
     a big deal technically.  If there was interest in allowing customers
     the option of moving a phone between competing networks, this would
     be the obvious choice.  On the other hand, if your goal is to reduce
     the usefulness of unlocked phones (by making sure that they only will
     work with 3G with one carrier) you would go the route of iPhone and G1.
     I would therefore still argue that this is mainly a marketing decision,
     not primarily a technical one.

     Thanks!

       -- Lauren Weinstein
          NNSquad Moderator ]