[Main General Bulletin Board | BBFAQ | Prev by Date | Next by Date | Post Followup ] Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos Some basics on cellular Like This Post: - Subscribe to Daily Digest for this Bulletin Board Posted by Bill Homer [Email] (#3427) [Profile/Gallery] (more from Bill Homer) on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 21:22:14 In Reply to: OT: question about cellphones..., bender [Profile/Gallery] , Fri, 16 Sep 2011 17:56:48 Alert me when someone posts in this thread: Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup

For normal 2G digital cellular voice calls and text messages, there are two signaling systems in use in North America: CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) and GSM (an enhanced version of TDMA, Time Division Multiple Access). In the US, Verizon, Sprint, US Cellular and Leap Wireless (Cricket) are the leading players that use CDMA; AT&T and T-Mobile use GSM. They all use different parts of the same frequency bands (a North American standard), but use them differently.

Since you said that you have a SIM card from your provider, you must be subscribed to an operator that uses GSM (CDMA systems do not use SIM cards). This is great for finding alternate phones, as GSM is the predominant signalling system in the world. Find an "unlocked" GSM quad-band phone on Newegg or Ebay and you should be good to go.

As to why some phones are restricted to operate on only one provider's network, it's because these phones are subsidized by the operator. There is no such thing as a free phone (they all cost money to produce), and when an operator offers a "free" phone it's part of a contract where you are committed to them for a certain amount of time, e.g. two years. On GSM networks, you can bring your own phone, but it may need to be "unlocked" to work on another operator's network if it was originally sold by a different operator.

posted by 75.3.159...

• OT: question about cellphones..., bender , Fri, 16 Sep 2011 17:56:48
  • If you get a 3G phone & it's unlocked, Trev, Fri, 16 Sep 2011 21:48:06
    • If I want to get a 2G phone, how do I find out, bender , Sun, 18 Sep 2011 14:56:06
      • as long as the phone supports 850/1900Mhz GSM, Trev, Sun, 18 Sep 2011 19:49:16
        • Sweet! So it looks like I can feel OK about this, bender , Sun, 18 Sep 2011 21:39:24
          • careful 'tho that phone comes in 2 versions, Trev, Mon, 19 Sep 2011 17:55:35
  • Some basics on cellular, Bill Homer , Fri, 16 Sep 2011 21:22:14 <-- Viewing This Message
  • You can buy an unlocked quad band phone and use...., TKC, Fri, 16 Sep 2011 18:31:28
  • Re: OT: question about cellphones..., nwas, Fri, 16 Sep 2011 18:21:10
    • Re: OT: question about cellphones..., bender , Fri, 16 Sep 2011 18:26:14

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• Prev by Date: reconstruction != bankruptcy, James, Fri, 16 Sep 2011 19:38:49
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