Skip to main content

Verizon LTE phones might be incompatible with AT&T’s network

verizon-4g-lte-logo
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Verizon may have been the first to launch a high speed 4G LTE network in the United States, but it won’t be the last. AT&T is already unveiling its first LTE devices, with phones likely coming some time next year. MetroPCS is already running LTE in some areas. Unfortunately, Sascha Segan of PC Mag reports that Verizon’s LTE phones and devices may not be compatible with other networks because they’ll be “on different frequencies.”

Recommended Videos

The site claims that “Verizon may be designing its phones to only run on Verizon’s very specific wireless frequency, locking out all other possible carriers. Verizon and AT&T both run their LTE networks in the 700-MHz band. But Verizon’s network is mostly in 746-787MHz, while AT&T’s will be primarily in 704-746MHz. Some Verizon and AT&T spectrum overlaps in an area called the “lower B block,” but not much. Verizon could build its phones to exclude AT&T’s frequencies, and vice versa.”

MetroPSC is on a 1700MHz band where AT&T and Verizon may set up shop (they own spectrum), but have not done so yet. Then there’s LightSquared, which may set up a network in the 1500MHz band. Oh, and don’t forget about Cricket, which may end up in the 1700MHz range when it finally gets its LTE network running.

Making compatibility more difficult, both Verizon and MetroPCS still rely on their CDMA 3G network for phone calls (and data should 4G not be available), which is incompatible with AT&T’s HSPA/GSM network technology.

Of course, if AT&T, Verizon, and the gang can come to some sort of agreement, phones could be compatible with all networks, but until then, Segan says we should expect a fragmented LTE market that gets even worse when you travel abroad.

Jeffrey Van Camp
As DT's Deputy Editor, Jeff helps oversee editorial operations at Digital Trends. Previously, he ran the site's…
Android 16 put a digital bodyguard on my phone and you must enable it
Advanced Protection in Android 16.

Over the past couple of years, Android’s focus on user safety and device security has been pretty evident. The company has leveraged AI to build features that listen to calls and read messages in real-time and alert users if they are at risk of getting scammed. 

Similar guardrails have also been put in place for web browsing in Chrome, and a whole bunch of lost device portion protocols have been baked into the OS' core. A few of them have remained exclusive to Google’s Pixel phones (and some Samsung devices) so far, but with the release of Android 16, these benefits are now being extended to the entire platform.

Read more
Nothing Phone 3 is the firm’s biggest swing at Apple and Samsung yet
Is this the shot-in-the-arm the smartphone market desperately needs?
A person holding the Nothing Phone 2, with the lights active.

The Nothing Phone 3 will officially be available in the US, as the company looks to take on the likes of the iPhone 16, Samsung Galaxy S25 and Google Pixel 9 with a handset Nothing founder and CEO, Carl Pei, calls its "first true flagship smartphone".

Those looking for an alternative smartphone option this year will be able to pick up the Phone 3 from Amazon and Nothing's own website, reports TechCrunch.

Read more
This one iPadOS 26 feature has me excited for the iPhone Fold
Semi-open state of a foldable iPhone concept

Samsung is set to launch the seventh generation of its Galaxy Z Fold book-style folding phone this Summer, but its biggest rival is yet to show its folding phone hand. Apple has long been expected to unveil an iPhone Fold, and the latest rumors suggest that it will launch next year.

I’ve used almost every folding phone released globally, with some exceptions for extremely obscure ones. While I've always been curious what an iPhone Fold would look like, I was fairly certain that Apple shouldn't build it, as I wasn’t sure they could deliver on one necessary feature.

Read more