The Federal Communications Commission approved Apple’s iPhone on Thursday, clearing the way for the combined phone and music player to hit the shelves.
“The iPhone has passed its required FCC certification milestones and is on schedule to ship in late June as planned,” said Natalie Kerris, Director of Apple Music PR. “We can’t wait until customers get their hands and fingers on it.”
Some of the FCC documents confirm a few features of the phone, including that it will have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and operate in the 1900MHz, 1800MHz, 900MHz, and 850MHz frequency bands.
Eager potential users who hoped for a faster data connection will be disappointed that the approval is only for EDGE. Many operators, including AT&T, have upgraded their networks to deliver download speeds of about 500K bits per second or more, more than twice as fast as EDGE.
The FCC also released correspondence regarding Apple’s requests that the agency keep some documents private. Apple asked the FCC not to release documents that include photos of the phone or the phone’s user manual for 45 days after certification. Apple asked that other documents such as diagrams, a schematic of the radio, the radio bill of materials and operational descriptions remain private indefinitely. The FCC agreed to the requests.
AT&T, which will exclusively sell the phone initially, began last week giving permission to employees who are testing the phones to take the phones outside of their offices for the first time, according to an AT&T employee who asked not to be named. Features on the phones are being activated individually and so far testers can’t play music, watch videos or use the visual voicemail features, the employee said.
Apple requires approval from the FCC to sell devices like the iPhone that operate on the public airwaves.
Updated 5/17, 10:22 pm ET to clarify the frequencies supported by the iPhone and the fact that the phone uses EDGE.