<p>It’s time for me to upgrade to a smartphone. Junior tells me to go for the Android. I noticed several unlocked GSM androids for a reasonable price on Ebay and Amazon. But I was reminded that at present, there are only two GSM services in the U.S., AT&T and T-Mobile. Would I be a victim of dissapearing market competition, since AT&T and T-Mobile are about to merge?</p>
<p>I believe most other countries have GSM- that is with the SIM card, am I correct?
We have had Verizon for some years, but if you are happy with your current carrier, it is worth a try.
( however, I have never had much luck with buying phones off ebay- they seem to be counterfeit batteries, & which I am not sure if the phones are, they haven’t worked for long)</p>
<p>Yes, my understanding is that most of the rest of the world uses GSM phones, which employ a SIM card. Apparently the SIM cards are easily interchangeable in a unlocked (expired contract) cell phone. I’m told that in Europe, the Pacific Nations and in South America every 7/11 and hot dog stand sells SIM cards.</p>
<p>The GSM phones are more ubiquitous than the non-GSM phones so I wouldn’t be concerned about that. If you decide to travel in Europe and want to use your own phone for occasional use you’ll need a GSM phone for that (although some people just get local phones for that purpose). I’ve done this a few times with both T-Mobile and AT&T - just take my phone with me and be careful not to use it much.</p>
<p>Most people just go with a subsidized phone with a commitment to a 2 year service plan anyway so your costs will be known up front if you go this route rather than an unlocked phone which can be expensive.</p>
<p>It is not a mistake to purchase a GSM phone. But that is not the question I would be asking. The industry is moving to LTE, Long Term Evolution which faster data network. I would buy the Android phone which gets me on LTE regardless of whether the inside chip is GSM or CDMA, etc. Verizon and ATT will always try to make it so that the phone they sell cannot be used on any other network. </p>
<p>Or you can look at Sprint which is trying to use Wimax to reach faster data transmission.</p>
<p>Although the rest of the world is GSM it uses different bands than US GSM bands. Most but not all GSM are multi-band (such as the iphone) and will work overseas. Make sure to check out compatibility before buying an unlocked GSM phone. </p>
<p>I don’t see the problem with the network limitation for GSM. Verizon and Sprint phones are not interchangeable even though they both use CDMA. The question is rather how long NON-GSM networks will survive with 95% of the world’s phones on GSM.</p>
<p>You are technically right in saying the better part of the world uses GSM phone systems BUT the only way you can make sure your phone will work anywhere outside of North America is is to make sure it a quad band GSM. if it is only a dual band GSM it will only work in North America as Europe uses different frequency bands.</p>
<p>^^ It’s anecdotal but every AT&T and T-Mobile GSM phone I’ve ever considered getting and definitely the ones I’ve ended up with all support GSM bands that will work in Europe. I don’t know whether there are any USA-only GSM phones being made but I guess it’s possible. I know that the actual bands used in the USA and Europe are different but I think most GSM phones support both - but it’s a good item to check to be certain.</p>
<p><a href=“Apple to sell contract-free, $350 iPhone, report says - CNET”>http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-20080342-94/apple-to-sell-contract-free-$350-iphone-report-says/</a></p>
<p>I saw this article today. I can’t say I know too much about phones and services but I assume non contract would equate to unlocked phones…</p>
<p>Up to the point of the Android/Smartphone fashion, used to be that one could get a lot more selection - esp unlocked) in GSM. Not any more. </p>
<p>As someone who’s using a Verizon Droid 2 for work and a Windows 7 Phone as personal phone (I develop software for mobile (often cellular) devices) I’d say GSM is the way to go - international roaming and all that. Having said that, AT&T has not been great to us so far (coverage wise) and I have serious concerns about the move to 4G while we can’t even get 3G working inside buildings.</p>
<p>If you work deep inside concrete or metal buildings and you have so-and-so coverage outside, AT&T will likely NOT work satisfactorily inside. Verizon seems to cope a bit better. Is that important? dunno.</p>
<p>The cell phone company you will be dealing with is more important- do the GSM companies have good service/reputations where you will usually be using the phone? A low price for the phone itself isn’t worth it if the costs for service and any headaches that follow are more than the other phone choices. Son likes his Droid and we use Verizon.</p>