The new iPhone is reported to include a 4G LTE chip in it that will grant the device access to high speed data networks on multiple carriers. AT&T is expanding their 4G LTE network, and that may be a reason why.
AT&T, the second largest carrier in the United States, already has an existing 4G LTE network covering a large portion of America. This portion, of course, is not as large as Verizon’s, who has the largest LTE network in the nation, but AT&T plans to expand to nice new US markets soon along with 43 new markets by the end of 2012.
The original iPhone was initially launched on AT&T’s network and the carrier had exclusivity until the launch of the iPhone 4S on Verizon after the company’s contract with Apple expired. Nowadays, AT&T is the only major carrier in the United States that can offer an iPhone with HSPA+ speeds (save T-Mobile, but they don’t count yet) and an expansion in LTE coverage may be what customers want for AT&T to do before the launch of the iPhone.
With an estimate of 6 to 10 million iPhone 5s to be sold in the last week of September alone, we may be able to see a lot of LTE connected customers with an AT&T in the future.