A report in the Korea Times last week suggests Apple's next iPhone, the 5S, could be long-term evolution-advanced (LTE-A)-enabled.
According to the report, an anonymous source at SK Telecom told the publication that the company is approaching Apple to incorporate its LTE-A technology with the upcoming iPhone 5S.
"We are in the middle of negotiations," he said.
The source also said the company plans to have as many as seven LTE-A devices available by the end of 2013. LTE-A technology will enable the iPhone 5S to download data twice as fast as its predecessor, at a speed of 150Mbps.
The iPhone 5S with LTE-A follows in the footsteps of Apple's biggest rival Samsung, which introduced an LTE-A version of the Galaxy S4 at the end of last month.
Not ready
The release of an LTE-A-enabled iPhone locally will, however, have no impact initially as South African mobile network operators are still working on providing LTE coverage.
Telecoms analyst at Africa Analysis Dobek Pater says although SA was one of the first developing countries to introduce LTE, proper rollout of the technology is still hampered by spectrum.
"The minister of communications, Dine Pule, has indicated the 2.6GHz allocation will take place this year. But no exact timeline has been given," he adds.
He predicts the additional spectrum will be made available by the end of 2013 and there is no indication as to the criteria that will be put in place for the spectrum application.
Senior analyst at Ovum Richard Hurst predicts it would take even longer before the spectrum is freed up. "While Pule and the ministry have indicated that we should have more clarity by the end of the year, I think it would take six more months after that before anything really happens."
He adds that there are several issues halting this process. "There's the ICT policy, the migration to digital television and also the release of the spectrum document, which depends heavily on the ICT policy."
Hurst expects nothing concrete to happen within the next 18 months.
Budget iPhone
While Apple nears the release of the iPhone 5S, speculation surrounding the computing giant's much anticipated budget iPhone still continues.
Images of the rumoured device have been leaked. According to a report by AppleInsider, accessory reseller Techdy showcased various images and a video of the purported device on its blog.
The site claimed it had managed to get a white copy of the budget iPhone's rear shell, as well as the device's accompanying 4-inch display, from up-chain supply sources in China.
AppleInsider, however, questioned the accuracy of the Techdy report, pointing out that control buttons, as well as cut-outs on the shell of the device, were absent, suggesting the images reflect an early prototype, or that they have been fabricated altogether.
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