Nokia said to be testing LTE Lumia models already
Reports indicate that the firm is working with AT&T and Verizon on 4G smartphones even before WP7 officially supports LTE
Published: 13 December, 2011
READ MORE: US | Nokia | Handset | LTE | Windows Phone
Nokia is desperate to make an impact in the US with its new Lumia family of WP7 smartphones, and is reported to be making progress with three of the big four cellcos. It has already announced a product launch this month with T-Mobile, but the real prizes, deals with Verizon Wireless and AT&T, may depend on LTE.
Nokia, even at the height of its powers when it had 40% share of the world cellphone market, has famously failed to penetrate the US mainstream. One of the key charters for new - and north American - CEO Stephen Elop is to reverse that situation. This has entailed adopting an operating system more recognized in the US than Nokia's Symbian; working closely with carriers to erase old accusations of Nokia arrogance and inflexibility; and looking to support the new LTE networks of the two leaders.
The CNET news site has learned that Nokia is already testing an LTE version of its Lumia 800 smartphone, even though WP7 does not yet officially support the 4G standard. The 800, and its smaller stablemate the 710, have shipped in various non-US markets running 3G, but Verizon has publicly indicated that it will require 4G support to place any smartphone in a prominent position in its catalog next year. Nearly all of its high end handset launches will support LTE, and this will probably be essential for Nokia to gain entry to the most coveted carrier deal. It has been excluded from Verizon before because of its lack of support for CDMA (except with a few low end, rebadged featurephones).
Nokia has been running an LTE version of the Lumia 800 in order to kick off the process of FCC and carrier testing and approval, claim CNET's sources. That could make the Lumia market ready at the point when WP7 officially supports LTE - and Nokia's work should accelerate that process too, benefiting the whole platform. However, carrier testing and FCC approval are no guarantee that operators will launch devices commercially - though both AT&T and Verizon have hinted that they are in talks with Nokia and interested in offering the Lumia.
The WinRumors blog recently reported that AT&T would launch its own Lumia 800 at the Consumer Electronics Show next month, with an LTE promise for later in 2012. Meanwhile, the T-Mobile launch is likely to focus on the midrange 710, which will fit with the carrier's lower end demographic and its interest in pushing the smartphone firmly into the midmarket. It is increasingly pressured in this critical segment by tier two carriers with Android models and even the lower cost iPhones - which TMo still lacks.
To get serious commitment from one of the big two, Nokia will need to offer them 'exclusives' under their own brand labels - even if these are just customized tweaks of the original Lumia models. Samsung has proved a master of this tactic with its variations on the Galaxy S and SII, renamed and adapted for each of the main four cellcos and some smaller operators too.
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