Verizon: No, Our 4G LTE Phones Won’t Work With AT&T’s LTE Network

@grg / 10:52 am PDT • July 15, 2011

Verizon has a 4G LTE network. AT&T is building a 4G LTE network. They both use SIM cards.

Surely, after all these years of running on vastly different network technologies (Verizon’s CDMA vs AT&T’s GSM) thus requiring silly things like two separate models of the iPhone, the two would have figured out some way to make their new, strikingly-similar networks play friendly together, right?

Nope.

In a statement to PCMag, a Verizon spokeswomen confirmed that their 4G/LTE phones will not work on AT&T’s 4G/LTE network, as “the phones will be on different frequencies.” And she’s right: Verizon’s LTE network operates in the upper half of the 700 Mhz range (746-787 Mhz), while AT&T’s operates on the lower half (704-746).

Here’s the thing, Verizon: the phones support the frequencies that they’re designed to support. When we’re dealing with a shared technology like LTE on two networks both operating within the same 100mhz range, whether or not a handset runs on both is much less a matter of technical limitations/challenges and much more a matter of business politics.

This separation makes some sense right now, all boiling down to phone calls. Verizon uses LTE for data, falling back to CDMA for voice. AT&T uses LTE for data as well, but falls back to GSM for voice instead. In the not-too-distant future, however, it’s almost certain that voice calls will be transitioned to the LTE network — and at that point, there’s no reason the line in the sand shouldn’t be washed away.

Figure it out, Verizon and AT&T. Don’t make the handset manufacturers research, develop, and build two separate phones. Don’t sneakily force customers to stay in your corner. At the very least, don’t blame it on the frequencies.

Verizon: No, Our 4G LTE Phones Won’t Work With AT&T’s LTE Network

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