[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] DocHoliday77:
Wow....This is still going on?....again?

No offense to anyone, but seriously, I just dont understand getting worked up about something that, even IF possible, will not even be an option for the vast majority of us for at least a year, probably more!

Ok, I hope this helps.....

The US variants are all different from each other. No two are the same as far as I can tell....well I couldnt confirm Sprints, but anyway....

After a little extra digging of my own, I still do not believe that we will see LTE on this phone.

The T999 is close to the same as the I747 (AT&T). Let me say now, that I do not know the exact part numbers, chip numbers/models, but you will see in pictures that they are in fact different. These show the T999 and I535 (Verizon, used because its easier to see they are different)

I am not attaching these to the post, just to keep the size down for easier viewing. Just open each in its own tab.

T999_Internal_Pic_A

I535_Internal_Pic_A

T999_Internal_Pic_B

I535_Internal_Pic_B

Physically different yes, but does it mean that the T999 does not support LTE???

Well, sort of. It does appear to me that the chip is designed to support a number of technologies, including LTE. BUT, if it really does have hidden LTE capability, then why is it that you cannot put AT&T software and modem, on an unlocked T999, and use it on AT&Ts network? Supposedly they are the exact same....according to some of you. So the software would be key...right? Not always.

Consider this, I cannot remember which phone I ran into this on a few months ago, but i believe it was the WiFi chip in question that on other phones and according to its datasheets from Qualcomm, it was capable of Wireless N. It turned out though, that there were a couple of pins missing from the chip which prevented it from using this capability. I have also seen where it was simply that a few pins were present, but not connected to anything.

Finally, if you check the FCC, T-mobile/Samsung NEVER requested anything related to LTE during the application process. Nor did the FCC run any LTE tests on the SGH-T999! They did do this on every other carriers phone. If T-Mobile had any plans of supporting LTE on the GS3, they would have applied for it. (They do have future plans to support the Note2, and in that application it is included). Now, I am by no means an expert on the law or the rules and regulations by the FCC, but I am pretty certain that if T-Mobile were to begin supporting LTE on the T999, it would be against the law. I am sure there is something in place to have a device recertified for something like this, but does anyone seriously believe that T-Mobile and Samsung are going to go through the trouble and expense of doing this now, when they should have done it in the first place? I know I dont!

One last thing, this is entirely hearsay, and I do not know for certain about this, but I have been told that Tmobiles LTE will be using the AWS spectrum and will be operating on different frequencies than Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T. So if the GS3 was built for LTE on those networks, then it most likely will not work. They would not have tried to build for Tmobiles at-the-time unknown LTE network.

I am including some links to references I used for all of this. They are primarily from the FCC. I suggest opening each in its own tab, and then open corresponding menu items to compare. I would have posted individual links, but unless you click the link on the FCC page, it will tell you that you dont have authorization to view it....

I suggest you compare the following items:

HAC Production Key Feature Letter

SAR Report

Internal Photos

Part 22 24 Test Report

Part 27 Test Report

T-Mobile

AT&T

Sprint

Verizon

T-Mobile Note 2

In the end, the hardware probably does have the capability to use LTE, but I think it is hardware disabled (otherwise it should work on other networks). Even if I am wrong and it is fully capable, it is not licensed by the FCC to be allowed to use LTE. Either way, I am confident that we will NOT be receiving future support for it.

I hope this helps guys. And please, no more threads, this was debated to death at least once or twice already!

And no, I am not trying to argue with any of you. If you still believe that we will get LTE even after reading this, then please continue on in life, happy in your belief, while I continue on, happy in mine! We will all know for sure in a little less than a year!

A bonus pic, to help further understand where the network is headed:

View attachment 1488683

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