verizon going GSM

[ElFenix]

4 G network will be 3GPP's LTE standard which is part of the gsm family.

 

[intogamer]

lol Vodaphone take over? That would be sweet. Sprint might die with wimax?

 

[secretanchitman]

no way........>.< i hope that isnt true! cdma > gsm.

 

[pm]

Why/how is CDMA better than GSM?

 

[EarthwormJim]

Originally posted by: secretanchitman
no way........>.< i hope that isnt true! cdma > gsm.

How is CDMA better than GSM?

There is a reason why most of the world uses GSM...

If you're comparing service, thats totally provider based not technology.

 

[pm]

I actually spent a while reading on CDMA and TDMA (like 2G GSM), and I have to agree with Secret's assertion. CDMA is probably better in most respects than TDMA. This came as a bit of a surprise to me.

Still, 3G GSM is UMTS which is based on W-CDMA.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U...ecommunications_System

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: pm
I actually spent a while reading on CDMA and TDMA (like 2G GSM), and I have to agree with Secret's assertion. CDMA is probably better in most respects than TDMA. This came as a bit of a surprise to me.

Still, 3G GSM is UMTS which is based on W-CDMA.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U...ecommunications_System

yup, the 3GSM stuff is actually a sort of CDMA. while the regular '2G' gsm vs. cdma was techincally in favor of cdma (requiring less spectrum space to get the same amount of stuff done is pretty important), the fact that europe and most other countries allowed only gsm pretty much determined that gsm would stick around.

the reason that 'CDMA' carriers such as sprint and, in particular, verizon, seem to work better is that their spectrum penetrates structures better than t-mobile's, rather than the technical specifications of the air interface.

also, verizon and sprint have rolled out 3G to a very large part of their respective networks (and are already rolling out an upgraded version of that) while at&t is still working on its 3G network (and is still releasing slower '2.75G' devices like the iphone), while t-mobile hasn't even started rolling out 3G (iirc).


the main benefit of GSM, of course, is the fact that your device has the potential to work overseas if it uses the right bands (typically quad band, but also triband; dual band users are SOL). how useful that is to the average american who does little overseas travel is up for debate. the 'CDMA' carriers typically offer a business class 'world phone' with both types of air interface marketed to the types of people who are more likely to use it (whereas tourists will typically pick up a prepaid SIM and a cheap handset, as international roaming is $$$). the other benefit of GSM is that you can buy phones that aren't offered by the carriers, pop in a SIM, and go.



sprint at this point is going it alone with wimax (which isn't from the qualcom cdma family), though europe is supposed to decide to open up airspace to air interfaces other than those promulgated by the 3GPP (GSM) standards body any day now. some european carriers have expressed interest in wimax, though whether as a mobile or fixed service i don't know.

edit: oops, forgot that korea is doing wimax as 'wibro'

 

[pm]

Thanks for the info, ElFenix. Wibro and Wimax merged to form "mobile Wimax" (as opposed to "fixed Wimax").

And yeah, T-mobile's amazing 1900MHz spectrum allocation is definitely annoying. I was standing next to someone today inside a building with my T-Mobile iPhone while he had his AT&T iPhone. I had 1 bar, he had 5. This seems typical around this part of northern Colorado. I have good coverage in my car and outside, but in buildings, I can watch my signal strength drop from full signal outside to nothing inside in about 50 feet.

While looking around on Google, I found this fascinating (for wireless spectrum discussions, anyway) article on US and EU wireless spectrum and 3G:
http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/aws/

 

[intogamer]

The real reason is that Vodaphone owns 45% of Verizon Wireless and the other by regular ol' Verizon. Vodaphone has a wide international base. I'm fairly certain that Vodaphone will take over when 4G GSM is matured.

Time to buy Verizon Stocks? What do you think.

 

[pm]

Based on the article, I think T-Mobile got a very nice piece of the AWS allocation. They look like (someday) they'll have a nice 3G network. Verizon and AT&T seem to have done well as well.

 

[skriefal]

T-Mobile's biggest problem is that the government has been (seriously) dragging its feet on vacating the spectrum that T-Mobile purchased, thereby preventing T-Mobile from using that spectrum to offer 3G services in many areas. They've offered up a large amount of cash ($50 million?) for the government to use to purchase new equipment to help with freeing up the spectrum sooner, but the government seems uninterested. Latest news is that it could be up to *6* years before the government gets off its a** and fees up most of the spectrum that T-Mobile purchased.

 

[Raduque]

ElFenix, I thought I read somewhere that LTE is only going to be used for data and that CDMA 1x is still going to be used for voice. It's also not supposed to happen for about another 7 years.

I also am one of the people who think that CDMA is the better of the two technologies.

Originally posted by: pm
Thanks for the info, ElFenix. Wibro and Wimax merged to form "mobile Wimax" (as opposed to "fixed Wimax").

And yeah, T-mobile's amazing 1900MHz spectrum allocation is definitely annoying. I was standing next to someone today inside a building with my T-Mobile iPhone while he had his AT&T iPhone. I had 1 bar, he had 5. This seems typical around this part of northern Colorado. I have good coverage in my car and outside, but in buildings, I can watch my signal strength drop from full signal outside to nothing inside in about 50 feet.

While looking around on Google, I found this fascinating (for wireless spectrum discussions, anyway) article on US and EU wireless spectrum and 3G:
http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/aws/

You know what's funny, is that in the elevator in the bank I work in, my T-Mobile Wing is the only phone I know of that keeps service. Everybody else (even T-Mobile regular phones) drop service somewhere between the 8th and 2nd floors, and don't regain service till they actually exit the elevator.

 

[tidehigh]

what does this mean for verizon customers that are in the market for a new phone this year.

 

[pm]

Originally posted by: tidehigh
what does this mean for verizon customers that are in the market for a new phone this year.

I don't think it means anything at all. These plans are pretty long-range.
http://www.dslreports.com/r0/d...0048501a9528bb/LTE.gif

It will be at least two years until these systems deploy widescale in the US. It also only affects people who want really mobile high-speed internet and are willing to pay for it. If you fall into this camp, then it would probably be worth holding off until Sprint's WiMax deploys next year. But otherwise, if you want my humble advice, it would be not to pay any attention to what may or may not happen in 2-3 years.

 

[tidehigh]

thanks for the information!

 

[x26]

Originally posted by: tidehigh
what does this mean for verizon customers that are in the market for a new phone this year.

They can still choose from Verizon's crappy selection as Always...

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Raduque
ElFenix, I thought I read somewhere that LTE is only going to be used for data and that CDMA 1x is still going to be used for voice. It's also not supposed to happen for about another 7 years.

I also am one of the people who think that CDMA is the better of the two technologies.

at first, but eventually i would expect the whole network and devices to use some sort of 4G setup. of course, at&t still has some of those pre-gsm tdma customers sticking around, so it'll probably take years.

sprint is planning the same thing with its wimax rollout, first it'll be fixed and mobile data setups, with talk happening later. though, i've read some analyst reports that sprint may not be pushing 4G so fast and maybe not wimax at all. what else they would do i don't know. they have to go to 4G eventually, and going to the same tech as everyone else at the same time as everyone else just doesn't seem like sprint.