Joel Kolstad wrote:
> "SMS" <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in message
> news:4578a722$0$82615$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net...
>> "Both T-Mobile and Cingular had an advantage not available for Verizon and
>> Sprint users: their GSM-based phones can usually be used in many non-U.S.
>> countries, CR observed."
>
> "Usually" is probably rather overstated: Unless someone specifically purchased
> an unlocked phone from their U.S.-based GSM carrier, I'd say the odds of the
> average person having such a phone is perhaps... 1 in 10?

True, but the frequent European or Asian traveler has probably figured
it out.

> Granted, trying to use a CDMA phone outside the U.S. is probably a 1 in 1000
> shot; I'd be surprised if we could find anyone who has successfully taken,
> e.g., a Sprint phone and gotten it to work in, say, Japan. But perhaps I'm
> horribly mistaken...

No, you're not mistaken. However the story is different in Korea, where
it's relatively easy to use a CDMA phone, as well as in China, India,
etc. New CDMA networks are being deployed in a lot of countries, and
coverage is expanding in existing countries. It's not that these
countries were so keen on a second standard, but in the densely
populated countries, they needed the higher efficiency of CDMA.