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GSMinSeattle?
Posts: 2 |
 
Fri Jan 07, 2005 4:41 am |
My Verizon phone died and I want to try the "new" Cingular but the phones are a bit expensive or not to my liking. I'm considering buying an unlocked phone and switching my verizon number over to Cingular. Can I use any GSM phone if i do this? Is it easy to do? or are there any sites I can reference to learn more?
Also, will European phones work in the US networks if they are unlocked? ie. Vodaphone devices on Cingular/Tmobile, etc.?
thanks for any help you can provide!
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NDogg78
Posts: 87
Phone Model:
Motorola V600
Service Provider:
Cingular |
Fri Jan 07, 2005 8:55 pm |
This earlier post might help...also a Verizon user switching to Cingular http://forums.mobiledia.com/topic23348.html
Post back if you have anymore questions 
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GSMinSeattle?
Posts: 2 |
Sat Jan 08, 2005 6:30 am |
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I like some of the smartphones that are available outside of the US, any thoughts on using a non-US unlocked phone anyone?
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NDogg78
Posts: 87
Phone Model:
Motorola V600
Service Provider:
Cingular |
Sat Jan 08, 2005 6:41 am |
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as long as you get a phone that supports the frequencies in your area, you shouldn't have a problem using it. my phone was a uk version but was unlocked and quad band so i didn't have a problem.
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JCMyersIV
Posts: 122
Phone Model:
V635 & BB 7290
Service Provider:
Cingular |
Sat Jan 08, 2005 10:38 am |
In addtion to dogg's comments, I would only add that you may need to buy a power adapter that fits US plugs (note: most of the international phones have multiple adapters for the different markets included), and that (depending on where you're planning to use the phone), you should have a basic understanding of the following.
900/1800 mhz are used for phone service outside the Americas.
850/1900 mhz are used in the US/Canada/Mexico, parts of the caribean, south america...
850 mhz is the spectrum allocated to the original analog (AMPS) providers when Cellular was new in the late 70's/early 80's; there were two licenses granted for any given market, the "A" and "B" carriers. There are 850 licenses deployed over the entire country - as technology has evolved, carriers operating 850 spectrum have installed infrastructure to support digital technologies (TDMA, CDMA, GSM), though you can't say that GSM is everywhere AMPS once was. It's possible that some of the markets may have two CDMA providers now that are not supporting GSM.
1900 mhz was sold as part of the FCC PCS auctions in the 90's. Carriers appear to have installed service in the 1900 areas as demand has grown beyond the incumbant 850 carriers... All major cities have providers in the 1900 spectrum deployed.
I say this, b/c as you look to the frequencies the phone you want supports, I would encourage you to look at the coverage maps offered by Tmobile (1900 only), and Cingular (850 and 1900). If you're going to be using the phone in rural areas, the 850 support is a must.
It bears noting that the same can be said of the rest of the world - the 900 frequency is used in many more places than 1800. What's seems weird to me is that many of the tri-band phones are 850/1800/1900 or 900/1800/1900 - it would seem more logical to put the 850/900 in all phones, but that hasn't been the case; probably some type of technology limitation.
Several providers now have quad band technology in their phones (dogg and I have moto's), others include PalmOne [treo], new Blackberry/RIM, newer Siemens devices, etc. Surprisingly, Nokia hasn't launched a quad band device yet (unless its a recent development)...
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