Cell Phones for Canadians: Part 2
by AJ Pau in Technology on January 28th, 2010
Do you like this article?
TweetLast week, we took a whirlwind tour of the Canadian mobile scene, to whet your appetites, if you will. Here in Canada, much of the power is in the hands of the carriers. The plans we take out second mortgages for, the phones that a Scandinavian toddler would disapprove of, such is the reality in the True-North-Strong-and-Free. Ah, but we left off with a glimmer of hope, a peek of what is to come.
Or for many, a peek into what already is.
Let’s get this straight: It ain’t pretty here. Due to science and witchcraft and alchemy, the total combined number of frequencies for SIM-card phones (GSM/UMTS phones) is ten. Ten. TEN. Does this make any sense to you? Of course not, and that’s why we’re the consumers and not the network techs keeping our BlackBerry-Thumb-Syndrome digits happy.
We’ll finish things off today with a primer on the hardware: the unlocked phones. There are many places where one could get a fancy import phone, but which one to get and what should one look for? Aesthetics are subjective, so don’t ask me if a pink phone with sequins is a better buy than a Hello Kitty phone without sparklies (they do exist…… yeah).
What I can tell you is that first and foremost, check the frequencies. GSMArena.com is a fantastic resource that lists pretty much every SIM-card compatible phone out there. The exceptions to that are most phones from Japan and all Chinese knock-offs. Beware of the latter, always, as you might find yourself buying a Nokla instead of a Nokia from that booth at the Richmond Night Market.
I had mentioned last time that there was once a time people looked for “world phones” or “quad-band phones.” You may also have heard phone geeks throw around the acronym, “NAM.” This stands for North American Market, namely the two unique frequencies that have been used in our fair continent for the better part of the last decade. Without further ado, here are the ten frequencies:
* 850, 1900 Mhz: NAM frequencies;
* 900, 1800, 1900 Mhz: Asia/Euro frequencies;
* 2100 Mhz: Asia/Euro 3G frequency;
* 1700, 2100 Mhz: AWS (Advanced Wireless Services), “new NAM”, if you will.
You’re probably going like, “Hold up, AJ, your math blows. How can there be ten frequencies?” Ah! You didn’t get me there, because for four of those frequencies are broken into 2G and 3G. This means that there is an 850 Mhz 2G and an 850 Mhz 3G.
Case in point, Telus and Bell have 850/1900 Mhz networks, but they are 3G only (purists would argue that it’s 3.5G, but I’m not talking to purists here). My old Nokia 3120 from Rogers is a triband 850/1800/1900 Mhz phone. It will not work on Bell or Telus because it is a 2G phone; they don’t have 2G networks.
Last time, I also mentioned WIND Mobile, new carrier extraordinaire and funny kid in the corner. Despite running on SIM-card tech, WIND utilizes the AWS spectrum for the most part. AWS is new and currently exclusive to T-Mobile USA and WIND Canada, which means there aren’t many phones out there that will work with them.
The bottom line: You want 850/1900 Mhz 3G phones.
Until AWS becomes more prevalent, you don’t want to go for anything else. Choosing an unlocked phone that supports those two frequencies is the better investment, as that ensures you have the greatest choice in terms of carrier and the best possible reception (all things equal).
It’s unlikely that we’ll ever see a penta-band 3G phones. The mess is big enough as is, which means you, dear consumer, need to be educated. It’s also highly unlikely that we would ever see Japanese phones with NAM frequencies, but we’ll go into those another time.
Until next time, keep it classy and mobile, Canada!
TweetYou might also like...
