GSM vs TDMA/CDMA

Cool Texan · 05-21-2003, 09:22 AM

I am considering leaving Sprint PCS as my cell carrier due to poor coverage in Portland (lot of holes, right in the middle of town).

I am looking at a phone through AT&T that is a GSM phone. I roughly understand what that means, however, I dont know what coverage would be like. It doesnt appear that GSM coverage is very extensive here...and I dont know if the phone would ONLY work on the GSM network. Anyone know? The phone is the Sony Ericson T68i.

fish_on · 05-21-2003, 09:57 AM

One of my distributors went to the gms phone, he does not like it. There is not enough gms coverage to make it worth while so he is switching back to the regular phones att has.

Cool Texan · 05-21-2003, 01:27 PM

Can you hook me up with a sweet deal on a phone and service plan? :grin:

Gus Orviston · 05-21-2003, 01:35 PM

skyguy,,are you in the ATT Wireless or the mothership? I have a few friends in the wireless world.

Oh, and I just love my Nokia 8265, it's my 2nd, it scored high in reception in consumer reports. Misplace my first one with the ringer shut off [img]graemlins/stupid.gif[/img] , so calling myself to find it doesn't work this time.

gus

Sky-Guy · 05-21-2003, 01:49 PM

CT-

No can do Brother. I work in IT, not sales. The new customer promotions are a pretty good deal anyway. I would suggest looking around at all the local dealers and finding one who is currently offering a free phone, manufacturer rebate, or something similar. There are plenty of those out there.

Gus-

I work at AT&T Wireless Headquarters in our Redmond/Bothell Facilities.

Gus Orviston · 05-21-2003, 01:56 PM

You might bump into a buddy of mine then, Joe Mueller, he has been with ATTW for quite a while now.

I use to support MaCaw before ATT bought them as well, back in the yester-years...

gus

Cool Texan · 05-21-2003, 02:42 PM

IT huh? So then you could just see to it that my account always has a credit balance then. :grin:

I tried stopping by a store yesterday. Got there at 6:00:02 and the doors were already locked. I'll try again today.

I'm trying to find a dual or tri mode phone that is the size of a nickel, has a battery that last 3 months per charge, and gets good reception even on the moon. Oh yeah, $50 or less. :smile: That way, once I have the activation fee on top of the $50, I can sell my Sprint phone for $100 on Ebay, and continue my streak of never paying for a cell phone yet always having cool phones. Heh heh heh....I will miss Sprint in that regard. :grin:

rustyl · 05-21-2003, 11:19 PM

I don't know if you do much travel to Europe, but GSM is used all through out Europe. I'm in Finland right now, and it would make life a lot easier if my cell phone worked here (like it does for some of my friends with GSM phones.)

Sky-Guy · 05-21-2003, 11:48 PM

CT-

I work at AT&T Wireless in Seattle, I could have any phone for free, and use a TDMA phone.... What does that tell you?

While GSM is the international standard that AWS and other carriers are eventually going to switch all their networks to, the coverage just isnt there yet in most our local NW markets. While a GSM phone is a quad-mode tri-band phone and will use TDMA in an area where GSM isnt available, if there is a hint of GSM coverage in the air at your location, the phone will lock onto it even if TDMA would provide better service.

Right now, I use a Nokia 8265 and it is the best phone I have ever used...been in the industry seven years.