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European iPhones Expected to Surf on EDGE and Wi-Fi
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PC World, 14th July 2007
The first of Apple Inc.'s iPhones to ship in Europe this fall will function wirelessly over slower EDGE networks as well as in Wi-Fi hot spots, the same as in the U.S., according to an industry analyst based in Italy.
The first version of iPhone in Europe "definitely will be on EDGE," said Gartner Inc. analyst Carolina Milanesi. The first European version could ship as early as October, based on information provided by Apple, she said. Apple has said it will ship there sometime in the fourth quarter.
Milanesi said in a telephone interview that she learned about the EDGE capability of the first European iPhone from "people working on the device in Taiwan," adding later that it was "common knowledge" it would use EDGE before it was capable of handling the faster 3G networks.
Some analysts and users have speculated that Apple would jump directly to a 3G-capable iPhone for its first version in Europe, partly owing to concerns that the Web browsing capability in the U.S. with AT&T Inc.'s EDGE network has been slow and unsatisfactory for some users who bought iPhones in the U.S. after June 29.
AT&T and Apple officials have defended EDGE -- Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution -- even at download speeds of 70Kbit/sec to 135Kbit/sec, because it reaches 270 million people in the U.S., making it the largest network. They have also said EDGE speeds will be fine for most users, and that some will browse via Wi-Fi hot spots that are much faster. It is unclear when Apple will create a 3G phone for use in the U.S., which would conceivably run over AT&T's faster HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) network, which has reached 165 metropolitan areas but is still a smaller footprint than EDGE.
In Europe, 3G networks are further along, and the percentage of cell-phone users is higher than in the U.S., although it recognized that 3G network users find their batteries run down sooner than with 2.5G, Milanesi said. She blamed the faster burning of batteries over 3G on the increased use of 3G phones, including data rich files such as photos and videos, and not because of an issue inherent to 3G networks.
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