10-31-2004, 08:43 AM
CDMA is an alternative technology to GSM. Although used in USA and a few notable countries, it is essentially an old technology. Further, due to limited world coverage (aparently non-existent in Europe), it has not reached the level of acceptability enjoyed by GSM and accordingly country-specific. As far as future migration to 3G services is concerned (voice/data/realtime conferencing etc.), it is an expensive way to achieve that considering that GSM has a clear path to 3G via another standard (WCDMA - not be confused with CDMA).
As I see in Pakistani market, Ufone and Mobilink have used the GSM path, they appear to have offered the GPRS which is the intervening technology towards full fledged 3G services. Meanwhile Paktel has migrated to GSM and will aparently follow the same path. Instaphone, it appears will stick to CDMA due to coverage and cost issues until it too migrates to GSM. My advice is to base your decisions purely on cost though I fear CDMA sets may not be as fancy as GSM.
As I see in Pakistani market, Ufone and Mobilink have used the GSM path, they appear to have offered the GPRS which is the intervening technology towards full fledged 3G services. Meanwhile Paktel has migrated to GSM and will aparently follow the same path. Instaphone, it appears will stick to CDMA due to coverage and cost issues until it too migrates to GSM. My advice is to base your decisions purely on cost though I fear CDMA sets may not be as fancy as GSM.
