8707 coming to US... Possibly
 

http://www.blackberrycool.com/2006/05/15/001760/

discuss.

It won't be in the US for a while yet.

It's strange though. For awhile, everyone just assumed that the device was not coming to the states because of the different freqs the 3G networks operate on here. Now it's on the FCC website

I'm not saying it's going to be released anytime soon, but the fact that it's been filed with the FCC is very interesting

They're probably just gearing up for a launch at some point. I would image it takes a while to go through the FCC process, but it's going to be a while away for the US.

US 3G networks are certainly not ready for a 3G device release, IMHO

Not to mention that there would be a band change required. The 8707v has UMTS 2100, and in order to operate on the Cingular UMTS/HSDPA network, it would require UMTS 850/1900.

From one of the documents (WCDMA FDD I TDD is UMTS).

* GSM/GPRS 900, GSM/GPRS 1800, and WCDMA (FDD I) bands are not operational in North America and therefor are not included in this report.

But anyhow, we'll get a product announcement this week if there is going to be one. Not sure why they would have left it branded as 8707v, though. Perhaps 8707u would have been more generic/appropriate concerning vendor branding, as there are no BlackBerry carriers in North America that start with 'V'.

Verizon?

Verizon wouldn't be labeled as a GSM device, but yes, they are a North American carrier with a V in the name (was referencing a GSM-based carrier). ;-)

Who would be the first to get it, if and when it is released in the states is Cingular the only U.S. carrier with UTMS

AAaahh, T-Vobile (german pron)...

Cingular has a very sparse rollout of UMTS 1900 right now (some will argue the numbers for coverage). The FCC will be auctioning the 2100-band late next month, which will allow the various North American carriers to bid and receive the frequencies needed for the global standard for UMTS. We won't have a UMTS-based BlackBerry in the States for another few generations, at the earliest (think years) - likely HSDPA and HSUPA-capable by that time - and very well could just skip us completely (never know what's around the corner).

8707v uses a CDMA chip -- is it really a joint Vodafone/Verizon device?
 

How about some wild speculation...Could the 8707v be a joint Vodafone/Verizon device?

What's my thinking?
1) Vodafone owns much of Verizon. 2) Verizon uses CDMA chips from Qualcomm, Vodafone is a GSM/GPRS carrier. 3) To get UMTS though...Vodafone needed Qualcomm CDMA technology...

Don't believe it? See the photos of the back of the 8707v says "CDMA by Qualcomm"

So if the 8707v already has a CDMA chip in it and Vodafone partially owns Verizon, could it be that that handheld with its CDMA ship support Verizon's CDMA network with some changes to the handheld code?

UMTS is WCDMA which is developed by Qualcomm.

Exactly.

Its *very* obvious I don't know the technology so much, but with Vodafone owning 45% of Verizon and Verizon not roaming outside North America, I would suspect that Vodafone would like very much for Verizon to get devices out there that would work on CDMA/1xEVDO in the US and roam to UTMS on Vodafone's network in Europe. Obviously its pure speculation...

the 8707v for europe is quad-band 850/900/1800/1900 with WCDMA 2100. So it would just fine here on GPRS even on cingular, the 3G would not correct, usually phones go through the FCC and it is not a long process...phones have come out 4 weeks after being submitted to the FCC it is just how long RIM wants to wait, so much for that OS upgrade to enable 3G right? :)

Actually Verizon does roam outside of N. America on other CDMA networks - done that in S. Korea and in Latin America. Don't forget there's also dual mode phones available that operators on CDMA and GSM networks.