Apple's new iPhone 5 will be compatible with the UAE's high speed mobile technology, according to the head of spectrum of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA).
"The iPhone 5 is supporting one of the frequencies, but requires approval by the labs here in the UAE and then by the TRA," said Tariq Al Awadi, the executive director of TRA's spectrum department, without indicating a time frame for when the phone will be available and approved in the UAE.
Currently, the UAE has long-term evolution (LTE) capabilities, a superfast mobile broadband, in two different bands - 2.5 gigahertz and 1.8 gigahertz. Mr Al Awadi said that the iPhone 5 supported the 1.8 gigahertz frequency but might require some changes in the phone's operating system.
LTE offers data speeds of more than 100 megabits per second - more than double the fastest connection offered by the existing third generation (3G) networks.
Problems with frequency incompatibility emerged after the release of Apple's new iPad earlier this year, which operated on the 700 megahertz band, a frequency that will only be available in the UAE in 2015.
"We submitted proposals to the ITU [International Telecommunications Union] for introducing the 700 megahertz band at the beginning of the year and hopefully by 2015 we will have this technology in the UAE," said Mr Al Awadi.
The iPhone 5 is already available on the grey market here, while both Etisalat and du are expected to officially launch the phone next month. Both operators are currently offering the "nano-sized" Sim cards for phones already bought on the grey market.
