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Cell C unveils LTE for iPhone 5 users

Marin'e Jacobs
By Marin'e Jacobs
Johannesburg, 15 May 2013
Cell C has opened up LTE for its iPhone 5 users, but says the service is still under commercial trial.
Cell C has opened up LTE for its iPhone 5 users, but says the service is still under commercial trial.

Cell C has opened up long-term evolution technology (LTE) for its iPhone 5 users. Rumours of LTE becoming available on the operator's network already started circulating at the beginning of May, but the information only appeared on the Apple Web site a few days ago.

According to Karin Fourie, Cell C executive head of communications, while the iPhone 5 for Cell C users will now be LTE-capable, Cell C's LTE service is still under commercial trial and will not be active for customers until the service becomes fully commercially available.

"Cell C will notify customers when the company launches LTE to its general customer base. Once LTE is launched commercially, Cell C customers will need to ensure they have a USIM (LTE-provisioned SIM card) in their device for LTE to work on the phone," said Fourie.

According to the Apple Web site, the iPhone 5 supports three LTE bands, namely 2 100MHz (Band 1), 1 800MHZ (Band 3), and 850MHz (Band 5). Fourie says Cell C will use the same spectrum (2 100MHz) for both phone and dongles.

Fourie continued to say that other phones supporting LTE are currently being tested by the network, including the Nokia 920 and 820, the Sony Xperia 3 and the HTC One.

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