From: johnl@iecc.com   
      
   >>It's just like the stupidity of our CDMA/TDMA/iDEN war while the world   
   >>standardized on GSM.  Despite its flaws, GSM is far superior to all of   
   >>the US-developed systems _and_ costs less due to economy of scale, which   
   >>is why all US carriers are finally moving that way.   
   >   
   >Oh, c'mon, GSM came later. And it was mostly Europe that decided to use an   
   >international standards-making process because of the relatively small   
   >countries; I don't recall any other part of the world being involved.   
      
   Quite right.  It was developed by ETSI, where E stands for European.   
   It's a brilliant implementation of mediocre TDMA technology.  Putting   
   the phone's identity in the SIM wasn't a new idea but they made it   
   work.   
      
   >I have no idea why you would state it's superior. As it happens, I'm a   
   >T-Mobile subscriber (using an AT&T cell phone), but sound quality isn't   
   >all that brilliant and I lose coverage plenty of times when indoors.   
      
   That has everything to do with frequencies.  AT&T (GSM) and Verizon   
   (CDMA) are mostly at 800MHz, while T-Mo (GSM) and Sprint (CDMA) are at   
   1900 MHz.  The 800 MHz carriers have much better coverage because 800   
   propagates better than 1900.  I have switched back and forth between   
   AT&T and Verizon (Tracfone resells both so you can switch phones   
   without losing your minutes) and AT&T works better here for the sole   
   reason that the tower is closer and higher up.   
      
   --- SoupGate/W32 v1.03   
    * Origin: LiveWire BBS -=*=- UseNet FTN Gateway (1:2320/1)