Originally Posted by
Mr. Marco And the benefit of AWS LTE?
I'm assuming generally increased call quality and reception. And Verizon phones finally being able to do what GSM phones like AT&T's do in terms of being on a call and using data at the same time.
I believe AWS is 1700/2100MHz. Mostly it will help add capacity to Verizon's LTE coverage and supplement their original Band 13 (700MHz) LTE network. From a reception side, 700MHz has better in building penetration, and travels farther so they can space towers further apart. But since few phones can operate on VZW's Band 4 right now, (iPhone 5C and 5s, Galaxy S4, Note 3, and the Moto X either can or will with a future firmware update, those users will see speed increases using Band 4 because not many are on it so there is no congestion.
It will not help Verizon users do simultaneous Voice and Data. Verizon's (and Sprint's) iPhone 5 can't do simultaneous voice and data due to a missing antenna (long version ->
AnandTech | Why the iPhone 5 Lacks Support for Simultaneous Voice and LTE or EVDO (SVLTE, SVDO) ). I believe the same holds true for why the 5C and 5S can't either. Verizon's other LTE phones, like the Moto X, Droids, Galaxy S4, Galaxy S3 can do simultaneous voice and data when on an LTE data connection (
voice goes across the CDMA/1xRTT network, data goes via LTE), or if the phone is using Wifi for data (
voice goes across the CDMA/1xRTT network, data goes via wifi). Some older Verizon phones, like the HTC Thunderbolt, HTC Rezound, Galaxy S3, can also do simultaneous voice and data over 3G/EVDO signal without wifi because of their radio chip setup.
In the future, when the carriers enable Voice Over LTE, then Verizon LTE iPhones should do simultaneous voice and data.