New iPhone Means We'll Soon Escape the Captivity of Carriers [telecom]

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New iPhone Means We'll Soon Escape the Captivity of Carriers

When Steve Perlman looks at the latest iPhones, he doesn't see the newfangled 3D Touch interface. He sees the fine print that lists all the wireless spectra these phones can talk to. The list is long, and it includes Band 39, the spectrum used by the unusually powerful wireless network Perlman and his company, Artemis Research, are building in the San Francisco Bay Area. The new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are built to run on practically any network in the world, he says, and this means consumers soon will have the freedom to move between wireless carriers as they please.