Technology Comparison Table
This table compares the current cellular technologies in terms of voice quality, coverage (urban, suburban, & rural), in-building penetration, data services, handset selection, battery life, and system capacity)
Technology & Spectrum |
AMPS | GSM 850 | GSM 1900 | CDMA 800 | CDMA 1900 | TDMA 800 | iDEN |
National
Carriers |
AT&T, Cingular, Verizon | AT&T, Cingular | AT&T, Cingular, T-Mobile | Verizon1 | Sprint | AT&T1, Cingular1 | Nextel |
Voice Quality | Good |
Good |
Good |
Good |
Good |
Fair |
Good |
Urban Coverage |
Excellent |
Good |
Good |
Excellent |
Good |
Excellent |
Good |
Suburban Coverage |
Excellent |
Good |
Fair |
Excellent |
Fair |
Excellent |
Good |
Rural Coverage |
Excellent |
Fair |
Poor |
Good |
Poor |
Excellent |
Fair |
In-Building Penetration |
Excellent |
Excellent |
Fair |
Excellent |
Fair |
Excellent |
Excellent |
Data Services |
Poor |
Excellent |
Excellent |
Excellent |
Excellent |
Poor |
Fair |
Handset Selection |
Poor |
Excellent |
Excellent |
Fair |
Good |
Poor |
Poor |
Battery Life |
Poor |
Excellent |
Excellent |
Good |
Good |
Fair |
Good |
International Roaming |
Poor |
Excellent2 |
Fair2 |
Limited |
Limited |
Limited |
Poor |
System Capacity |
Poor |
Good |
Good |
Excellent |
Excellent |
Fair |
Excellent |
1. In some areas TDMA and CDMA
coverage by these carriers is at 1900 Mhz |
Comments
For use inside the U.S., CDMA 800 + AMPS is clearly the best choice. The biggest downside is that the handset selection is not as good as what's available with GSM (and the handsets cost more), but their still is a sufficient selection for most users. For international use, a CDMA user would have to have a tri-band unlocked GSM handset and buy prepaid SIM cards; they would not be able to roam with their own number. Many GSM users also choose to buy prepaid SIM cards when traveling because it is much less expensive than roaming. It's a little bit of a hassle, but it saves a lot of money. You simply change your voice mail greeting to give your SIM card phone number to callers, or forward your calls.
GSM 850 Mhz is going to solve many of the problems of GSM 1900 Mhz, once it is widely deployed.
Be aware of carriers' technology not only in your home area, but in areas to which you may often visit.
Smaller TDMA carriers are going either to GSM or CDMA. If the carrier is an affiliate of AT&T then they are almost certain to go GSM. But many independent TDMA carriers have decided to move to CDMA, including U.S. Cellular and Cellular South (see article).
Be aware that just because a compatible technology network exists in a given area it does not mean that your carrier has a roaming agreement with it. For example I received an e-mail from someone in Mendocino County stating that even though there is now GSM coverage from Edge Wireless, it can only be used by AT&T GSM customers, not by T-Mobile or Cingular customers, even with roaming fees.
Again, Nextel needs to be judged in terms of their target market which is not people who require ubiquitous coverage or high speed data.
|
Return to New York City Cellular Carrier Comparison Return to San Francisco Bay Area Cellular Carrier Comparison |
|