LTE spectrum fragmentation is a major hurdle for hardware vendors that are eager

to rationalise frequency capabilities to take advantage of economies of scale. The

availability of handsets has been limited so far by the lack of spectrum harmonisation
which makes it difficult for handset and chipset manufacturers to deliver LTE-capable
devices at a mass market price point. A typical example concerns Apple’s latest
iPad, which only supports LTE connectivity in the 700/2100 MHz bands therefore
mainly addressing demand in North America and ignoring frequency requirements in
other regions. However, considering the long-term prevalence of the 1800 MHz band
in global LTE deployments and its combination with deployments in the digital
dividend and IMT-extension bands, device vendors such as Apple have an interest in
covering all three bands in upcoming LTE device launches – in Apple's case via the
‘iPhone 5’ due to launch next week. Huawei has already unveiled LTE smartphones
capable of covering the 800/1800/2300/2600 MHz frequency combination,
supporting 60 percent of the forecast global LTE market in 2016.