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Cellphones that Work Everywhere?

Posted by Cliff on from the don't-I-wish dept.

spoonist asks: "The vast array of available wireless protocols in the US is quite bewildering: CDMA, TDMA, GSM, AMPS. I spend most of my time in urban areas. Major providers appear to be rolling out GSM, so that seems like the way to go. I also spend a lot of time hiking and climbing in rural areas and like having my mobile phone in case of an emergency. My ancient analog phone gets a signal in all but the most remote of areas LONG after friends' digital phones loose their signals. Are there any dual mode mobile phones that can talk both GSM and AMPS? Also, I occassionally travel to Europe. From what I understand, GSM in the US uses a different frequency from the rest of the world (WHY!?!). Are there any phones that talk European GSM, US GSM, and AMPS?"

2 of 52 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Because We *Like* It That Way by T-Punkt · · Score: 2, Interesting

    And what about 1800MHz? GSM (in europe and maybe elsewhere) uses both bands and most (all?) GSM cellphones available here nowadays are so-called 'dualband' i.e. can deal with 900 and 1800MHz frequencies.

  2. Re:Because We *Like* It That Way by Cato · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Yes, we GSM freaks are just plain wrong - except that the statistics show that GSM has 71% of the world digital mobile phone market and 68% of the whole market (analogue and digital). GSM is available in 157 countries from 438 operators (hint: there aren't 157 countries in Europe...) See http://www.gsmworld.com/news/statistics/index.shtm l for the details.

    CDMA has some benefits and it is gaining market share against GSM in some markets, but GSM is in no way a European standard, although it originated in Europe. And 3G of all the various flavours will be CDMA based, even for current GSM operators.

    As for moving to Europe - you're right, you might as well buy a different phone since you will need a new mobile phone service anyway. If and only if GSM is a good option for where you live and travel in the US (analogue or CDMA may be better for you), it may make sense to get a tri-band GSM phone that works on any GSM network in the world. Tri-band GSM is also good for Americans who travel a lot outside the US, particularly in Europe, Asia and Australasia.