Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf
3G is going to be shut off by the end of 2022 (if plans don't change). I cannot say all carriers will do this then. But Verizon and AT&T are planning to do so.
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There is more than one 3G variation. The USA is only about 1/8th of world population and there are multiple carriers that are incompatible. Some didn't use SIMs at all in the past.
Europe used a more advanced 2G (GSM) than the USA 2G, also known as CDMA-1. The 3G was crippled by Qualcomm getting the GSM Association to use CDMA for 3G.
There are plans to turn off GSM (2G) in many European countries. Operators in Ireland can switch GSM licensed bands to 3G and in some cases 4G LTE (there were other 4Gs such as Flash-OFDMA and Wimax which are near defunct). Operators in Ireland have to give the Regulator 6 months notice. None need to be given to retail, even though there are GSM only phones on sale and the Sale Of Goods Act or Similar says 2 years.
GSM has no cell breathing, unlike CDMA-1/USA 2G, or 3G. So works better for voice calls than 3G in poor signal areas.
The 4G has NO native voice mode. It uses operator VOIP, so needs a better signal than 3G for plain voice calls.
It's a mess. Qualcomm is partly to blame. There was a lot of politics about 3G and 4G. The 5G is practically a lie. Only of use to replace wifi or for stadiums. In regular use on normal bands there is no advantage. The 4G in the same size channel and 3G with just a few users is about the same speed, but because of CDMA, the 3G sheds outer connections if there are too many users and drops to 50% efficiency. The GSM is very efficient but the speed is low because the channels are absolutely tiny. The 4G is like 100s of small channels for each connection.
There is only one sort of 2G (GSM), and 3G in Europe, unlike the USA.
So it's not simple. It's complicated also in some European countries by Smart Meters for Electricity (actually so as suppliers can cut you off, nothing about them is smart). Some use GSM only and some can use GSM or 3G. I doubt any are 4G. Most 3G modems and phones in Europe can use 2G GSM. Possibly only Three in the countries they are in had no GSM till they took over other operators, like O2 in Ireland (previously owned by Telefonica of Spain). Some places may have gas or water meters or traffic lights on GSM or 3G.
I think the Amazon DXG here can use GSM or 3G. The Modem naturally has a regular SIM.
Also the USA uses completely different radio bands in some cases to Europe, hence before 4G, a "world" phone might have been Quad Band and would work nearly anywhere but only on SOME USA operators. Similarly the phones for some USA operators couldn't be provisioned for other USA operators and wouldn't work in Europe. A European GSM or 3G phone would work in almost all of Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Apple wants to abolish physical SIMS so they and not the user or Mobile operator or user in control. Here it takes about 10 minutes to move your EXISTING mobile number to a different operator's SIM (usually free). No effort at all to swap a SIM to a different phone and have it work instantly. Dual SIM phones popular in some countries and work here. Handy for home and work, or simply using a local SIM in Germany or Kenya as well as having the Irish one. The EU also stopped operators charging big Roaming fees, which was also good for everyone near borders as the phone might switch on a poor local signal and a strong foreign one. Imagine USA was a 100 states and all different countries and phone operators with massive roaming charges?