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When it comes to LTE chipsets for phones and tablets one of the biggest problems is having enough radios to support all the different frequency bands carriers use. For example, this is the reason that your iPhone 5 on Verizon will not work on AT&T’s 4G LTE network, they both use different LTE frequency bands. Qualcomm is now trying to solve the issue with their new RF360 mobile chip which supports global LTE including: LTE-FDD, LTE-TDD, WCDMA, EV-DO, CDMA 1x, TD-SCDMA and GSM / EDGE.

If you count up all the different radio bands available there are roughly 40 different LTE bands and the new chipset will enhance battery life, antenna performance and connection reliability. QualComm also unveiled the WTR1625L chip that will be an industry first support carrier aggregation including international LTE support. If you’re anxious for a globally capable LTE handset that supports all LTE bands you can expect the RF360 to arrive on the shelves towards the second half of 2013.

In the first part of January Peplink announced their Router Utility for iOS, which allowed users to receive push notification upon system startup, WAN connections up/down and SpeedFusion up/down. The wait is now over for Android users because Peplink has officially released the application to Google Play. The application will allow you to receive push notifications to any Peplink Balance or Pepwave Max mobile router with up-to-the-second status updates. From a network admin perspective this can be incredibly useful if you’re outside the office or traveling on business and need to keep tabs on the network at the office. The application is a free download so be sure to get the Router Utility app today!

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Related Links:

• Order Peplink/Pepwave Routers
• Why choose Peplink/Pepwave Routers?
• Compare Load Balance & Bonding Solutions
• Download Android Router Utility Application

According to Engadget Sprint customers have been stating they’re now seeing 4G LTE in parts of New York state including New York City, Washington DC and some cities in Florida including Jacksonville, Miami and Tampa. Customers have also been posting various speed tests and so far they appear to be similar to the speeds that other carriers like Verizon and AT&T offer on their LTE network. This latest LTE launch for Sprint pushes their 4G LTE market total to 70 cities that offer the newest technology, and they’re slowly creeping up on AT&T that offers LTE in 175 cities. However, Verizon still leads the pack and even combing both Sprint and AT&T LTE doesn’t touch Verizon’s LTE dominance with 4G available in 476 cities across the country.

U.S. Cellular recently stated that they plan to expand their 4G LTE coverage to 87% of the company’s customer base by the end of 2013. Right now 61% percent of customers have access to 4G LTE that is capable of delivering speeds around 5-12Mbps download and 2-5Mbps upload. Their 87% goal translates into about 3,800 additional cities and towns that will be covered with 4G LTE including Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska; Manhattan, Kansas; Eureka and Ukiah, California. When finished the LTE expansion will give U.S. Cellular customers access to LTE service in fourteen additional states.

Today Sprint announced their Q4 2012 earning report showing that overall revenues totaled $9 billion, up from their previous quarter. Their wireless services totaled $7 billion of that total and Sprint managed to sell 2.2 million iPhones, while customers waited for their 4G LTE network to expand. Sprint’s 4G LTE network launched last July and is now serving more than 3 million connections with faster wireless speeds. In addition to their contract subscribers, Sprint also added 401,000 post paid subscribers, but lost 1 million existing ones from the Nextel part of the business.

Q4 2012 Highlights:

• Full year 2012 consolidated net operating revenue of $35.3 billion rose 5 percent year-over-year; annual Sprint platform wireless service revenue of $27.1 billion is the highest ever and increased nearly 15 percent year-over-year; record 2012 Sprint platform postpaid ARPU of $63.05 grew more than 5 percent over 2011
• Annual Operating Loss of $1.8 billion, includes accelerated depreciation of $2.1 billion; annual Adjusted OIBDA* of $4.8 billion; fourth quarter Adjusted OIBDA* of $860 million up 2 percent year-over-year
• 2012 Sprint platform postpaid net additions up 18 percent year-over-year and highest since 2007
• Strong postpaid and prepaid Nextel recapture rates
  • 2012 postpaid recapture rate of 55 percent
  • Fourth quarter postpaid recapture rate of 51 percent
  • Best ever quarterly prepaid recapture rate of 50 percent
• Annual smartphone sales of nearly 20 million
  • 2012 iPhone® sales of more than 6.6 million – 40 percent to new customers
  • Best ever quarterly iPhone sales of approximately 2.2 million – 38 percent to new customers
  • 89 percent of quarterly Sprint platform postpaid handset sales were smartphones
• Network Vision sites on air nearly doubled in last 90 days
  • 4G LTE now launched in 58 cities with nearly 170 more expected in coming months
  • Construction started in more than 450 cities
  • More than 19,500 sites now ready for construction
  • Average current new sites on air per week have grown 83 percent from third quarter
  • More than 8,000 sites on air

Last year Softbank announced they’d be purchasing 70 percent of Sprint’s stock for $20.1 billion. Softbank is based in Japan and they planned to build a U.S. subsidiary called “New Sprint”, which would invest $3.1 billion in a convertible bond with a 7 year term and 1.0% coupon rate. The Justice department has contacted the FCC requesting more time so they can review the planned deal. They have a concern about national security and knowing they’ll own 70% of the nation's third biggest wireless carrier raises potential risks. According to Broadband reports Sprint says "This is a routine request when working with the CFIUS agencies regarding national security," and "We continue to anticipate that the transaction will be completed in mid-2013."

A few weeks ago we mentioned that T-Mobile was only a few weeks from launching 4G LTE in Las Vegas. Forum members over at XDA Developers are now reporting to see 4G LTE in and around Las Vegas. However, so far the speed tests aren’t that impressive and show 10Mbps download and 5Mbps upload, which is slower than Verizon, AT&T and Sprint LTE. In fact, these speeds are still slower than T-Mobiles 4G HSPA+ network in some areas!

There is speculation that the speed isn’t there because they’re only using a 5x5Mhz configuration. Insiders say that T-Mobile has a lot of other sites 4G LTE ready and they’re ready to launch a variety of LTE markets in quick succession soon. For those of you keeping track of LTE market totals Verizon stands at 476 cities, AT&T at 175 cities, Sprint at 70 cities and T-Mobile is finally on the board with 1 city.