What is the difference between CDMA and GSM?The important differences are:
Data Transfer Speed:
- CDMA is faster than GSM. - CDMA2000 downstream rate is 2 megabits / second, through EVDO, where GSM downstream rate is up to 384 kilobits / second, through EDGE technology
Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards:
- SIM is tied to the network, rather than the actual phone. Phones with card-enabled can be used with any carrier of GSM - Proprietary handsets are linked to one carrier only and not card-enabled in CDMA
Roaming:
- GSM carriers have wider coverage of more rural areas, where as CDMA may not cover rural areas compared to GSM carriers
International Roaming:
- GSM has facility to offer more international roaming, as the number of connections in world market dominate GSM network. - CDMA phones do not have the capacity; however, there are more countries that use CDMA networks.
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