From: stephen@sprunk.org

On 22-Apr-15 07:53, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
> Stephen Sprunk  wrote:
>
>> It's just like the stupidity of our CDMA/TDMA/iDEN war while the world
>> standardized on GSM.  Despite its flaws, GSM is far superior to all of
>> the US-developed systems _and_ costs less due to economy of scale, which
>> is why all US carriers are finally moving that way.
>
> Oh, c'mon, GSM came later.

GSM development started in 1982, the standard was published in 1987, and
the first network went live in 1991.

iDEN development started in 1991, and the first handsets weren't
available until 1994--after GSM.

cdmaOne (IS-95) was published and first deployed in 1995--after GSM.

D-AMPS aka TDMA (IS-54) was first deployed in 1990--only a year before
GSM.  I can't find a date for when the spec was published.

> I have no idea why you would state it's superior. As it happens, I'm a
> T-Mobile subscriber (using an AT&T cell phone), but sound quality isn't
> all that brilliant and I lose coverage plenty of times when indoors.

That's mostly a coverage issue, not a technology one.

However, because carriers use different technologies, phones can't roam
between networks to fill in dead spots.  Using the same technology
doesn't guarantee roaming agreements will exist, of course, but using
different technologies completely precludes them.

In many areas, particularly rural ones, the GSM network is actually
provided by a single party (often a wholesaler you've never heard of)
because that's the only way to make coverage commercially viable in such
places.  That isn't possible in the US because each carrier has to
deploy a different technology on every tower or, worse, deploy their own
towers next to existing ones.

S

--
Stephen Sprunk         "God does not play dice."  --Albert Einstein
CCIE #3723         "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the
K5SSS        dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking

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