PSA: Clearing up the Rogers BlackBerry Q10 LTE confusion

Now that the BlackBerry Q10 has landed on most carriers in Canada there has been a lot of folks picking up the device. As always, folks not willing to wait for their regions to launch the device have turned to purchasing one online or importing one. This time around though there have been some issues with that scenario because much like the BlackBerry Z10, there is several variations of the BlackBerry Q10 being offered by carriers.

Most notably Rogers are offering two variations. Both the SQN100-1 and the SQN100-3 are available on Rogers with the SQN100-3 being the device capable of Rogers 2600 MHz LTE that offers speeds up to 150 Mbps (Theoretically, network coverage will vary and real world speeds will differ) and the one being offered to most customers. The problem with that is that Rogers 2600 MHz coverage is still rolling out in Canada and as confirmed by Rogers, this particular model when used in the US will not be able to connect to any other LTE providers such as AT&T or T-Mobile and will be bound to only an HSPA connection. 

As you can tell, that might be a problem for those looking to travel to the US often or for those who are looking to import a BlackBerry Q10. Rogers suggestion is to speak to the representative at the point of sale to ensure you're getting a version that will fit your needs. For everyone else, if you're looking to get a BlackBerry Q10 from Canada and want to ensure that it is indeed LTE capable on either AT&T or T-Mobile, be sure the version you're getting is the SQN100-1 variation offered by Bell and TELUS and their smaller subsidiaries.

*See update Above* - One final note; if T-Mobile is your carrier of choice the SQN100-1 is only compatible with their LTE and areas which have refarmed AT&T spectrum available. The SQN100-5 is needed for full on T-Mobile support and no Canadian carriers as of yet are offering those that we've found. It is expected that when T-Mobile sales for the BlackBerry Q10 go live, that is the variation they'll be selling. We'll confirm that as soon as possible.