CDMA, 3G, GSM, SIM CARDS... its so confusing!

I broke my Samsung Instinct I had under a 3 year contract with bell. Now I need a new one and Bell doesnt sell the Instinct anymore. In a way I'm kind of happy cause I travel a lot and want a phone with a SIM card.

Can i buy any phone that has a SIM card slot, then buy a bell sim card and activate my phone on the bell network?

I understand that Bell had CDMA and some other companies had GSM...but now that Bell announced the 3g network and now sells sim cards and iphones... Do I absolutely have to buy a bell phone??? If not... what are my options?

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› See More: CDMA, 3G, GSM, SIM CARDS... its so confusing!

hows it going ITS SO....


in theory an unlocked rogers phone should work if the HSPA sim card is the same as a gsm card. the thing you may want to check is how many numbers are in a hspa imei, if they match then bell shouldnt have a problem activating the phone.

the only concern i have is wether the 3g cards still run on the cdma network. or if they connect to the gsm net work establsihed in canada.

this is theory however im in the process of tryign to get a rogers phone with a bell sim as well.

just to verify my ramblings i had an unlocked cdma phone sent in from australia from their old orange network, and i programmed it to work on the cdma network under aliant or in eastern canada. so i know what im talkign about.

its very worth your while to do some research into it. the things you want to check for ( and with out askign a sales rep on commission) are:

the compatibility of a hspa sim card and wether it has the ability to connect to the gsm network.

the phones that bell now sell have an iemi or a esn with the same amount fo digits as a gsm phone.

and wether the phone your purchasing is unlocked.

those are soem of the key main ingrediants in your plight to undergo interphone speices errotica.

cheers.

if you would like take my email address down and i will get back to you with what i have learned as i am now going hard core research mode about the hspa network.

cheers eugo.

and good luck

To Its so confusing... another thought you have to try which is a sure fire way to test the sim carm you have, is by borrowing a friends gsm phone that has been unlocked and see if your sim card is reconized by the phone. and try a locked phone as well couldnt hurt.