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AMejia1976
join:2000-07-29
Kissimmee, FL

AMejia1976 to trparky

Member

to trparky

Re: Which standard in South Korea?

Honestly I would suggest he gets one in SK. Pricing might be way cheaper than him using a US based phone and the roaming charges. As the troops cycle often he might even be able to buy a phone from any of the Soldiers leaving to the mainland or deploying elsewhere.

@l3X

trparky
Premium Member
join:2000-05-24
Cleveland, OH

trparky

Premium Member

He'd be getting an unlocked GSM phone if it will work and put in a SIM card in once he gets there.
ConstantineM
join:2011-09-02
San Jose, CA

ConstantineM

Member

There are no GSM networks in Korea.

If you want to get an unlocked phone, make sure to get one that has UMTS @ 2100 MHz. Google Nexus 4 sounds like it might be a good candidate (plus it's very cheap in the US, price-wise), if you can wait a couple of more days, until it's released for purchase on Nov 13th at Google Play.

But I would, too, recommend to see if this stuff can be purchased in Korea instead; although you probably can't beat Google's 299$ tag for an unlocked 3.75G phone.

trparky
Premium Member
join:2000-05-24
Cleveland, OH

trparky

Premium Member

Yeah, but the Nexus 4 isn't out yet and won't be out until after he's gone. So that's why I was thinking the unlocked Galaxy Nexus.
trparky

trparky

Premium Member

According to the web site below, it says that the Galaxy Nexus Maguro should work.
»www.phonearena.com/phone ··· s_id5595

Da Geek Kid
join:2003-10-11
::1

Da Geek Kid to ConstantineM

Member

to ConstantineM
Not sure what you mean. »en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UMTS is a GSM even »en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3G ··· volution is a GSM... All three providers support GSM phones just make sure it's unlocked and world which most are these days.

chmod
Premium Member
join:2000-12-12
Lockport, IL

chmod to trparky

Premium Member

to trparky
said by trparky:

According to the web site below, it says that the Galaxy Nexus Maguro should work.
»www.phonearena.com/phone ··· s_id5595

The gnex "maguro" is the gsm hspa+ version.

Juggernaut
Irreverent or irrelevant?
Premium Member
join:2006-09-05
Kelowna, BC

Juggernaut

Premium Member

Maguro is tuna as most sashimi lovers know. Funny naming a phone model that.
ConstantineM
join:2011-09-02
San Jose, CA

ConstantineM to Da Geek Kid

Member

to Da Geek Kid
LTE is not GSM, and UMTS is not GSM, either. All three are completely different standards.

Unless you want to start claiming that Verizon is somehow suddenly a GSM provider (which it is not, never has been, and never will be).

There is no GSM in Japan or Korea. There are also a number of providers in the world, including Canada and UK, who don't offer any GSM service, but do offer UMTS (with no GSM whatsoever).

It is incorrect to claim that a GSM phone will work in Korea, because it would not.

trparky
Premium Member
join:2000-05-24
Cleveland, OH

trparky

Premium Member

Well then what kind of phone will work there? There has got to be a phone that he can get here in the states before he ships out so that I can prepare the phone for use.
broccoli
join:2007-11-29
Portland, OR
Draytek Vigor2860Vac
EnGenius EAP600
Obihai OBi100

1 recommendation

broccoli

Member

said by trparky:

Well then what kind of phone will work there?

Any phone that supports the 3G UMTS 2100 band (1900 MHz uplink + 2100 MHz downlink), aka Band I. In the US, that means most, if not all, 3G (and above) phones sold by T-Mobile and AT&T.

Check out phonescoop.com and gsmarena.com where you can look up phones by specs. You'll probably get hundreds if not thousands of matches.

trparky
Premium Member
join:2000-05-24
Cleveland, OH
·AT&T U-Verse

trparky

Premium Member

It looks like he may have to get a phone in South Korea when he gets there. I told him to make sure that he gets a "Google" phone and not some other Android phone.

The reason I say that is because I want him to get a phone that has Full Google AOSP support.

Da Geek Kid
join:2003-10-11
::1

Da Geek Kid

Member

not sure what the others are talking about but here you go... »en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa ··· xy_S_III

S iii us works on the same band except you won't get LTE oyvey! Get the unlocked ATT/Tmobile Version which are both GSM based...

PeeWee
Premium Member
join:2001-10-21
Madera, CA

PeeWee to Juggernaut

Premium Member

to Juggernaut
I think I heard that the motherboard in that phone is called Tuna.

DaveDude
No Fear
join:1999-09-01
New Jersey

1 edit

DaveDude to ConstantineM

Member

to ConstantineM
said by ConstantineM:

LTE is not GSM, and UMTS is not GSM, either. All three are completely different standards.

Unless you want to start claiming that Verizon is somehow suddenly a GSM provider (which it is not, never has been, and never will be).

There is no GSM in Japan or Korea. There are also a number of providers in the world, including Canada and UK, who don't offer any GSM service, but do offer UMTS (with no GSM whatsoever).

It is incorrect to claim that a GSM phone will work in Korea, because it would not.

Nope.

»www.3gpp.org/specifications
»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LT ··· ation%29

LTE an initialism of Long Term Evolution, marketed as 4G LTE, is a standard for wireless communication of high-speed data for mobile phones and data terminals. It is based on the GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA network

Gsm includes Gsm , UMTS , HSPA+, and LTE. Lte is a revision of UMTS.

and Verizon has always been compatible at the network level for GSM, Vodafone which owns them needed compatibility for roaming. Verizon has always been a GSM and CDMA provider.

trparky
Premium Member
join:2000-05-24
Cleveland, OH

trparky

Premium Member

Not to be insulting or anything, but there's a lot of conflicting answers being passed around here in this thread.

All I really want to know is if an unlocked GSM Galaxy Nexus (Maguro) that's bought off of a site such as Swappa.com.

Da Geek Kid
join:2003-10-11
::1

Da Geek Kid

Member

if you compare my GS3 link from Wiki will tell you that South Koreans are all GSM frequencies that will support »en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ga ··· xy_Nexus using the same frequencies.
ConstantineM
join:2011-09-02
San Jose, CA

ConstantineM to DaveDude

Member

to DaveDude

Do you mean 3GPP when you say GSM?

GSM does not include UMTS and LTE. Stop spreading misinformation. Nowhere on wikipedia (as if that's even a source of information), is it claimed that GSM includes UMTS and LTE.

To quote from your own link as above:
said by »www.3gpp.org/specifications :
The term "3GPP specification" covers all GSM (including GPRS and EDGE), W-CDMA and LTE (including LTE-Advanced) specifications. The following terms are also used to describe networks using the 3G specifications: UTRAN, UMTS (in Europe) and FOMA (in Japan).
So, 3GPP includes GSM, UMTS/W-CDMA and LTE, but GSM is strictly a term that refers to GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks.

Verizon has never been compatible with GSM; Vodafone owning a major stake in Verizon Wireless, and Verizon's abroad roaming agreements with European carriers, doesn't make Verizon compatible with GSM at all. A GSM phone will obviously not work on Verizon's nationwide home network.
ConstantineM

ConstantineM to Da Geek Kid

Member

to Da Geek Kid

There is no GSM in South Korea or Japan!

South Korea (and Japan) has no GSM frequencies! Where do you get this information that they do?

If one wants a phone for South Korea (or Japan), one has to compare the UMTS/HSPA/HSPA+ frequencies (all 3 of these acronyms are compatible as far as frequencies go). Comparing GSM frequencies would be pointless, because South Korea has no GSM!
ConstantineM

ConstantineM to trparky

Member

to trparky

Re: Which standard in South Korea?

Yes, an unlocked GSM/HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus should seemingly work in Korea (and noone is actually disputing that it will work). The conflicting answers stem from the fact that some people seem to misunderstand that UMTS/HSPA/etc is different and separate from GSM/GPRS/EDGE.

trparky
Premium Member
join:2000-05-24
Cleveland, OH

trparky

Premium Member

So you, ConstantineM See Profile, are saying that the Maguro Galaxy Nexus will work there. Right?
ConstantineM
join:2011-09-02
San Jose, CA

ConstantineM

Member

According to the following page from GSM Association, any phone that's designed to work on a European UMTS frequency, 2100 (also known as W-CDMA 2100), would also work in South Korea. The GSM/HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus, GT-I9250, happens to be one such phone (I own one, BTW).

»maps.mobileworldlive.com ··· lic%20of

Wikipedia article about UMTS Frequency Bands also confirms that Europe and (some parts of) Asia share the same band.

»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UM ··· cy_bands

And just to make it clear about the whole fuss regarding GSM vs. UMTS: if you disable UMTS on your phone, via, "Use only 2G networks (Saves battery)" in "Mobile network settings", or if you have a GSM-only phone (with no UMTS support), then your phone won't work in South Korea at all, because they have no GSM networks. I hope this clarifies any issues you might have regarding the "conflicting answers being passed around here in this thread".

P.S. Google Nexus 4 release is almost here; might as well wait until Tuesday, 13th Nov, and get it direct from Google for 299$ (8GB) or 349$ (16GB). :-)

trparky
Premium Member
join:2000-05-24
Cleveland, OH
·AT&T U-Verse

trparky

Premium Member

Well... here's to hoping that the dev team behind AOKP can get the AOSP code of the Nexus 4 merged into the codebase so I can send him along with a good and decent AOKP-based ROM.

The reason why I was thinking about the Galaxy Nexus was because device support for it is very mature in the AOSP scene.

Da Geek Kid
join:2003-10-11
::1

Da Geek Kid

Member

The miscommunication here is the SIM/GSM is used interchangeably all over the world and ConM thinks otherwise.
Da Geek Kid

Da Geek Kid to ConstantineM

Member

to ConstantineM
said by ConstantineM:

According to the following page from GSM Association, any phone that's designed to work on a European UMTS frequency, 2100 (also known as W-CDMA 2100), would also work in South Korea. The GSM/HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus, GT-I9250, happens to be one such phone (I own one, BTW).

»maps.mobileworldlive.com ··· lic%20of

Wikipedia article about UMTS Frequency Bands also confirms that Europe and (some parts of) Asia share the same band.

»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UM ··· cy_bands

And just to make it clear about the whole fuss regarding GSM vs. UMTS: if you disable UMTS on your phone, via, "Use only 2G networks (Saves battery)" in "Mobile network settings", or if you have a GSM-only phone (with no UMTS support), then your phone won't work in South Korea at all, because they have no GSM networks. I hope this clarifies any issues you might have regarding the "conflicting answers being passed around here in this thread".

P.S. Google Nexus 4 release is almost here; might as well wait until Tuesday, 13th Nov, and get it direct from Google for 299$ (8GB) or 349$ (16GB). :-)

GSM???? GSM???? Well don't tell that...
ConstantineM
join:2011-09-02
San Jose, CA

ConstantineM to Da Geek Kid

Member

to Da Geek Kid

terms SIM, GSM and UMTS are not interchangeable!

South Korea and Japan are specifically different because they never had GSM networks; elsewhere in the world, I'm not specifically aware of any GSM networks already being shut down (so, suggesting a GSM phone for Europe won't be wrong at all), although I do recall that several operators that have started out since 3G UMTS has already been available, are likewise offering a UMTS-only service with no GSM (»three.co.uk, »WINDmobile.ca and »mobilicity.ca).

Also, some operators switched to UMTS from some other crappy 3G (»bell.ca and »telus.ca, they have a shared UMTS network, IIRC); Verizon delayed the switch, but went directly with LTE with no UMTS. When I was in Canada in 2008/2010, I had an unlocked GSM phone from AT&T, Sony Ericsson W810i, and it wouldn't work with Bell or Telus, but would only work with Fido and Rogers.

And FYI: SIM cards don't mean GSM, either. There are some SIM cards that won't work in any GSM, UMTS or LTE phone, so, even without UMTS: for sure SIM and GSM aren't interchangeable terms at all, I'm again not sure what made you to believe they were.

Let me put it this way: I need a replacement phone for Verizon; you come by and suggest that I can just get a GSM phone, since Verizon has nationwide LTE, and LTE is a GSM descendant -- please keep such advice to yourself, cause it's wrong.

South Korea has no GSM, period.

trparky
Premium Member
join:2000-05-24
Cleveland, OH
·AT&T U-Verse

trparky

Premium Member

So it really comes down to forget about getting him a phone now. Let him sort it out at the US Military Base Exchange Store once he gets to South Korea.

I would hate to have him spend $400 on a phone he can't use.

And here I thought that GSM was the world standard and we in the US were the weird ones.

Da Geek Kid
join:2003-10-11
::1

Da Geek Kid to ConstantineM

Member

to ConstantineM
Vz is Vodafone and does support GSM service as well as LTE however, using the CDMA phone in conjunction with sim chip LTE is also possible... But Vz is no SKTelcom.
Da Geek Kid

Da Geek Kid to trparky

Member

to trparky
your friend can buy the Galaxy Nexus unlocked and use it there.
»www.eturbonews.com/30567 ··· t-phones
or
»english.visitkorea.or.kr ··· _5_7.jsp
ConstantineM
join:2011-09-02
San Jose, CA

ConstantineM to trparky

Member

to trparky
GSM is the world standard; US, Korea and Japan are the "weird" ones.

I don't understand why you're confused, though. Everyone told you that an HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus and an HSPA+ Google Nexus 4 will both work in South Korea (unless you disable 3G to save battery).