What Is CDMA And How Is It Different From GSM? — A New Cell Phone

CDMA stands for Code Division Multiple Access. This is an international standard which provides cell phone service technology.

CDMA competes with GSM, however, GSM is used much more throughout the world. Many of the cell phones that are currently on the market are either CDMA phones or GSM phones.

CDMA and GSM are not compatible, CDMA phones can only be used with cell phone carriers that use the CDMA networks. The same is true for GSM phones.

However, if you have an unlocked phone, then it’s compatible with both networks and it can be used with any carrier you choose.

What Networks Use CDMA Or GSM?

In the U.S. we use CDMA and GSM, Verizon and Sprint use CDMA while AT&T and T-Mobile use GSM.

CDMA vs GSM Which Network Is Better?

For the most part, you should not be concerned about which network is better because they provide the same service in terms of bandwidth speed.

However, GSM offers more global coverage as a result of roaming and international-roaming contracts.

GSM networks also do a better job covering the rural areas in the U.S. in comparison to CDMA.

If you’re due for an upgrade, it’s much easier to change your phone if your phone is on the GSM network in comparison to the CDMA network.

GSM phones use removable SIM cards to store the user’s data on the GSM network.

While most CDMA phones do not have SIM cards. CDMA carriers use data on the carrier’s server to verify the same data that GSM phones store on their SIM cards.

As a result of this, the SIM cards in the GSM phones are interchangeable so this gives you the ability to remove the SIM card from one GSM phone and put it into another GSM phone while keeping the same phone number.

This gives you the ability to use an AT&T phone on the T-Mobile network and vice versa.

Transitioning from one CDMA phone to another isn’t so simple because most of them don’t have SIM cards and you need permission from your carrier.

There are some CDMA phones which use SIM cards but they do this because the phone has a slot for a SIM card or because the LTE standard requires it.

But these SIM cards work differently because the carrier still uses CDMA technology to store your private data.

You’re probably wondering why do Verizon and Sprint use CDMA technology? In 1995 and 1996 Verizon and Sprint switched from analog to digital.

At that time CDMA was the fastest, newest technology available. It offered better call quality, greater capacity, and more potential than the GSM networks that we have today.

Over time GSM caught up but there was no turning back for Verizon and Sprint by that time.

Data And Voice Usage On CDMA Networks:

On most CDMA networks you will not have simultaneous data and voice transmissions.

As a result of this, you will not receive any notifications while you’re talking on the phone because your data is on hold. You will receive your notifications after the call has ended.

However, if you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network then two-way data exchange will work just fine on a CDMA network.

This is possible because Wi-Fi isn’t using your carrier’s network. Now you know what is CDMA and how it works.

Originally published at https://anewcellphone.com on January 17, 2019.