CDMA vs. GSM

dannylan · #1 04-10-2009, 01:25 PM

Hi!

I'm familiar with GSM but not with CDMA. I see that several carriers in the USA use CDMA (MetroPCS, Alltel, Cricket, etc), my questions are:

a) Do CDMA phones use a chip card (SIM) like GSM?

If yes:

b) Can the SIM be changed for another one from a different CDMA provider (e.g., you're with MetroPCS but want to change to Cricket but use the same phone you already have)? This can easily be done with GSM providers as long as the phone is "unblocked" and I wonder if it's the same case with CDMA carriers.

Best!
Danny

fatal · #2 04-12-2009, 03:33 AM

Generally CDMA phones do not have a chip. So if you get a new phone you cant activate it. You will need to go to the store and see if they will, as they probably wont activate a phone they didn't sell you.

There are some world phone CDMA phones that allow for GSM chips but can only be used for roaming..

If you like changing phones often and buy your own and not from the company, go with GSM...

dannylan · #3 04-12-2009, 02:32 PM

Thanks fatal.

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