Apple iPhone 5 Can't Do Simultaneous Voice/Data on Verizon, Sprint Networks

From DailyTech: No matter how you feel about the iPhone 5 that was unveiled this week, it's an interesting smartphone to most people. However, we're learning that the phone can't support cellular data and voice calls at the same time on certain 4G LTE networks.

Specifically, the iPhone 5 will be unable to handle simultaneous voice and data use on Verizon Wireless and Sprint versions of the device. This is due to a limitation in the CDMA specification that those two networks use. However, some 4G LTE smartphones on the Verizon network will allow users to make voice calls and use data connectivity at the same time. The iPhone 5 is unable to do this due to design decisions that Apple made.

“The iPhone 5 is designed to allow customers to make voice calls on the Verizon Wireless network and surf the Web on Wi-Fi,” Verizon spokeswoman Brenda Raney said in an e-mail. “It was an Apple decision."

The New York Times reports that when users place a voice call while connected to 4G LTE network the phone call the defaults to the carriers older second or third-generation networks because LTE networks can't support voice calls at this time.

The reason AT&T iPhone 5 buyers can place phone calls and use data at the same time is because both of those functions roll back to the older AT&T 3G network, which is capable handling both simultaneously.

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