Hello Everyone, 

The following is from a very, very smart man, David Chittenden, who posts to a mailing list that I watch.  In it, he describes the basic different between CDMA and GSM wireless technology in a more succinct manner than I would have previously thought possible.

Well Done David and Thank You,

Mark 

CDMA (Verizon Wireless and Sprint PCS) is a newer technology. Thanks to the competition market in the US with no government funding (officially), more companies went with it than did with GSM AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile). So, in many areas, you will get better coverage with CDMA.

That said, GSM is more secure because it uses a two-part encryption scheme. The SIMM card is one part and the phone has the second part. CDMA has been cracked multiple times, though it is difficult. GSM was cracked one time and only when the lab had the SIMM card to copy.

So, if you want better security, GSM is actually the way to go. It also gives you better world coverage. So, what is the other benefit of CDMA? Well, The GSM coverage area of each tower decreases as it handles more phones simeltaneously. This is not a problem, usually, in countries which officially backed GSM infrastructure build-up as there are more towers to cover the area. In the US, however, that was not the case. Since the GSM providers are responsible for their own towers, they build and place them to maximize cost vs profit. Also, many communities have very strengent rules about where and how many towers are allowed as people fear their electro-magnetic fields.

David Chittenden, MS, CRC