From late January you can forget about taking your Sprint phone to Australia as Telstra is going to switch off the CDMA network shortly and go all GSM:
In late January, Telstra is scheduled to turn off its CDMA (code division multiple access) mobile network. Telecom customers roaming to Australia currently use this network to obtain national coverage and once it’s switched off, there’s no alternative – Optus, Vodafone, Hutchison and now Telstra all use a different base mobile technology – GSM (global system for mobile).
2,57B people are using the most widely used mobile technology, GSM (Global System for Mobile communications), according to global trade body GSM Association. The second largest mobile technology, CDMA, had 421.4 million users at end September 2007.
