AT&T Benefits Too

AT&T gets something nice out of the deal too. With the "iPhone 4G" Apple will take the opportunity to upgrade the HSPA radio and chipset in the iPhone 4 to much faster HSPA+ technology. AT&T has dramatically increased the speed and efficiency of its network with its nationwide technology over the pas year. It says its HSPA+ network produces data speeds as fast or faster than 4G networks (this is true) so its network and devices should be called 4G, too.

World Phone

The iPhone 4G's support for GSM-based wireless networks makes it a "world phone"-something Apple has wanted in the device from the beginning. What's a "world phone"? In contrast to CDMA-only phones, GSM-supporting phones can connect to GSM networks virtually anywhere in the world. GSM technology is used by wireless carriers in most of the world outside the US and by AT&T and T-Mobile in the United States.

Building an iPhone that supports CDMA, LTE and GSM would be a very technologically aggressive move by Apple, but one that would pay dividends well into the future.