| Hmm... If I remember correctly level 9 and level 10 GSM/EDGE networks can support more features then any other cellular network and more customers per tower. U.S carriers have at the most level 6 GSM/EDGE networks with Japan and china (and parts of europe) having level 8/9/or even 10 in some areas. A lot of european and asian carriers do videophone or have more features then american carriers. What we are doing cellphone wise is old news everywhere else. If verizon were to switch and use level 9 and 10 networks they may have a sporting chance to be top dog for years to come. Also if they wanted to they could use european (900+1800) and american (850+1900) bands to have a truly global network. Since a majority of phones today are quad-band or at least tri-band VZW would have no problem pulling this off. Also if they were to have seperate equipment for each frequency then you could have 3x the customers per cell tower (useful in metro areas). Not only would it open a new market of importing European maker phones to compete with american phones but we would also get a more feature rich network using level 9 and level 10 GSM/EDGE networks. If they wanted to they could even keep on support for their CDMA equipment until all CDMA contracts expire after a basic network is complete. W-CDMA has a problem of short range towers (hence it only being used in japan) hence why it is not viable in the united states. |
