The massive rollout of LTE by the end of next year might appear to be a good thing for Apple's new iPad, but variations in the regional standards could pose threats to its 4G capability.

Recent information from the LTE World Summit reveals that 70 per cent of international carriers now believe it's the right time for LTE deployment. However, national carriers are currently focused on various bands on the radio spectrum.

For manufacturers, this means that the LTE devices will need to adapt to the local specifications and will need to design devices for regional markets. When it comes to international roaming on LTE networks, this could become even trickier.

Apple's latest iPad has already faced damaging consequences as a result of LTE fragmentation. Labelled initially as a 4G device, the new iPad was attacked by organisations protecting consumer rights in Australia and was investigated by UK authorities.

Finally, Apple had to strip the 4G label from the new iPad, as the device was not compatible with all LTE standards on the markets where available.

Currently, there are four main global regions using different LTE standards: North America - 700MHz and 2,100MHz; Western Europe, the Middle East, and Africa - 800MHz and 2,600MHz; Eastern Europe - 800MHz, 1,800MHz, 2,300MHz, and 2,600MHz and Asia-Pacific -1,800MHz and 2,100MHz.