freestaterocker
New member
- Nov 19, 2011
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T-Mobile and AT&T use different bands for 3G. So UK phones will work on AT&T for 2G and 3G (plus HSDPA) but only 2G for T-Mobile. As for Verizon and Sprint, well, our phones will just not work on those carriers period. Buying unlocked in the US means you paid full price for a device that you still potentially can't use on your carrier.
I do prefer the UK system. "Oh Three aren't offering the HTC TITAN?" *goes to Carphone Warehouse* "One HTC TITAN off-contract please" *pops Three SIM in the phone* - Profit!
The UK system is vastly superior, especially in that you actually save money on your monthly service by buying outright. Canada's system is a hybrid of the two: all three of the major carriers (Rogers, Bell & TELUS--or just RoBelLUS) currently use the same GSM bands-850/1900 for HSPA(+) and 1700 for LTE. This is expected to change slightly when our federal gov't auctions off the 700mhz spectrum in the near future. Anyway, we sadly have to deal with 3-year contracts to get maximum savings on the cost of the handset, (a device that is $50/3yr can be as much as $450/2yr) and our monthly bill is the same no matter what. And we also have to deal with carrier exclusives. As a side note, the only two of the Big 3 that have real coverage in my area (Bell and TELUS) have already announced they aren't going to carry the 920. Thank God for unlock codes!