When the hallmark of your company is revolutionary ideas, where do you turn for inspiration for your latest smart phone? If you're Apple in this case, you scan the playing field, and realize you damn well better add 4G LTE to that phone.

After Apple's patent infringement trial with Samsung, ironically, Apple's intention to include global 4G LTE connectivity on its iPhone 5 certainly sounds like something out of Samsung's playbook. And probably because it is - Samsung's Galaxy S III is one of a few phones that provide this feature.

Tech giant Apple's new iPhone 5 will have global 4G LTE and work on the fastest wireless networks around the world, including in the US, Europe and Asia, though it may vary among different mobile carriers.

The phone will have an advanced technical capability of LTE (Long Term Evolution) wireless network that would give all phone carriers a chance to sell their fastest data services to Apple's base of iPhone customers.

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Designing a mobile device that can handle the multiple LTE bands globally is quite a challenge. It's exactly why the "new iPad" is only compatible with AT&T and Verizon LTE networks in the US, and Bell, Rogers and Telus networks in Canada.

IDC analyst John Byrne estimated that there are 36 LTE bands globally. Meanwhile, he estimated that there are "only" 22 3G GSM bands around the world.

While LTE is the future, it's still a burgeoning technology. So far, only three countries have significant numbers of LTE customers: the United States, South Korea and Japan. According to IDC, Verizon currently has the largest LTE network in the world and the highest number of LTE subscribers, around nine million at the end of the first quarter.

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According to The Wall Street Journal, wireless carriers are eager to drive more customers to those networks, which are more efficient and could spur faster growth in data revenue by making it easier for consumers to use services like streaming video.

South Korea's SK Telecom is second with 2.75 million LTE subscribers, while Japan's NTT DoCoMo has 2.23 million, according to IDC.

Europe is still lagging in LTE adoption, with LTE service in Germany, Scandinavia, and elsewhere, but the technology is still in its infancy in most of Europe. Despite that, though, LTE is seen as a checkbox that Apple must meet to compete with its Android rivals, including Samsung.

LTE-capable Android phones are currently being sold in 11 countries including the U.S., Japan, South Korea, Australia and Germany, according to IDC.

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LTE technology is much more fragmented than the previous third-generation wireless technology, making it more difficult to make LTE phones that work seamlessly around the world.

Apple is expected to debut its latest iPhone, which will also have a slightly larger screen, and new headphones at a press event in San Francisco on September 12. Analysts have widely expected the new phone to support LTE, the report said.

It was reported in May that Apple would likely use Qualcomm's LTE baseband chip built on the 28nm process.

Apple officials said that it isn't likely to work with all carriers' LTE networks in all countries, though it wasn't clear which ones would be left out, it added.