UTMS vs. cdma2000: 3G Showdown

[zackepceo]

So I've been looking for a new phone because my contract expires in June. I already hate Verizon for their lackluster phone selection and archaic policies, but the coverage is excellent. The price per month ($55 for 1000 whenever/unlimited nights and weekends, 2 phones, and unlimited in-network data transfer (which really means you can buy as many phone-locked BREW applications as you want and not be charged for the bandwidth, only the program)) is not that bad.

But I think I really hate my phone more than I hate them...

Anyway, whatever. I digress. I don't like CDMA very much because of the carriers. I would gladly go to Cingular/T-Mobile and buy a T637 and unlimited mobile internet, but that would leave me a little frustrated with the speed.

I've been waiting for 3G cellular networks to come out since 2001, and every year they appear more and more in every place BUT the USA. Finally the time of local 3G is near.

I have read up on 2 3G standards, one UTMS, the other cdma2000.

UTMS
Pros:
Easy to scale existing GSM networks to UTMS, and all current UTMS phones are GSM/GPRS as well
Garunteed high speeds (384kbps-2mbps)
Not Verizon
Existing spectrums
Cons:
Has to share frequencies with existing GPRS networks
Expensive to retrofit

cdma2000
Pros:
Lots of fallback solutions (there's only 4 different types of cdma2000, and the old CDMA network probably is compatable)
Up to 3.1 Mbps in speed with 1.8Mbps max upload speed
Cons:
Only Verizon (bad) and Sprint supporting it in the USA
Highly variable speed



Personally I think I'm going to try to find a UTMS phone.. what are your thoughts?

[jjsahagun]

No UMTS available in the US yet. Expect it by the end of the year.

[zackepceo]

Tests are being held in a few metropolitan area by Cingular.

[Homie S]

Tests are being held in a few metropolitan area by Cingular.

Do they really need to implement or find a new network already? Hell, they're still migrating customers from ATT over to Cingular.

[zackepceo]

No, the fact is that we can't really wait a few more years for this. America was planned to be fully 3G by 2003 at latest; it's now 2005 and the first nationwide 3G network isn't going to be open until the 4th quarter. Japan has had ~2mbps wireless service since about 2002, and the current cell phones are testing the limits of CDMA1 and GPRS.

[Raptor22]

I on the other hand havent even heard about this new UMTS network.

[zackepceo]

UMTS is mostly non-american wireless service for now.

[Raptor22]

UMTS is mostly non-american wireless service for now.


It is now being transfered over to US for us to use? How is that network work compared to the new GSM for Cingluar/at&t and CDMA sprint?

[zackepceo]

Both coverage areas are expected to be the same, ie. 'nationwide', but in practace UMTS should deliver the most coverage due to the sheer number of Cingular/AT&T antennas.