Major Carriers Want Additional Bands Included in New iPhone, BTIG Says

Wireless carriers, except Sprint, want the next iPhone to include AWS-3 spectrum, band 66, BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk told investors. “This mid-band spectrum not only offers more capacity with existing cell site spacing, but can also deliver faster speeds through carrier aggregation technology,” he wrote Tuesday. “AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon have already started deploying this spectrum, but financially strapped Sprint did not buy any of this spectrum. Samsung put Band 66 in the Galaxy S8 and Note8.” AT&T wants the spectrum it's deploying as part of FirstNet to be included, he said. Sprint is focused on inclusion of high performance user equipment (HPUE) enabling its 2.5 GHz spectrum to “match the network coverage of its 1.9GHz mid-band spectrum,” Piecyk wrote. “Investors are optimistic that HPUE will be included in this year’s iPhone, especially given the strong relationship that Sprint Chairman Masa Son has with Apple.” One big question is whether Apple will add a chip allowing the phone to use TV band spectrum purchased in the incentive auction, he said: “Inclusion is a long shot but would be a huge win” for T-Mobile. Another question is whether the 38 GHz spectrum being championed by Verizon, a building block for 5G, will “ever be in an iPhone,” he said.