Some areas and countries alone accept one technology available, so users should be abiding to analysis advantage maps afore affairs a phone. About speaking, CDMA is a lot of frequently begin in North America and some locations of Asia, while GSM is begin in a lot of added places. Some carriers do action all-embracing or "world" phones that can plan with both, but if the buzz is traveling to be acclimated predominantly in one area, it may accomplish faculty just to get one that's angry to one type.

Both technologies can be acclimated with 3G accepted phones, but 3G GSM speeds can be faster than 3G CDMA speeds, which can accomplish a big aberration for those who use their phones for amusing networking, email and alive video. The fastest 3G accepted acclimated with CDMA2000 is EV-DO Rev B., which has after abstracts ante of about 15.67 Megabits per additional (Mbit/s). The fastest accepted accessible with UMTS is HSPA+, with after speeds of up to 28 Mbit/s.

GSM phones and CDMA phones aswell use altered types of acute cards accepted as Universal Integrated Circuit Cards (UICC). These are baby disposable cards that can be acclimated to abundance advice like a acquaintance account and activate, interchange, and advancement phones after carrier action as continued as the buzz is unlocked. This agency that the carrier makes it accessible for buzz to plan even if the end user removes and changes the card. Admitting both types can be awash locked, this is added accepted with CDMA phones.

UICCs can be programmed to plan with either GSM or CDMA and their derivatives, or with both. Those that alone plan with GSM phones are alleged Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards and those that alone plan with CDMA phones are alleged CDMA2000 Subscriber Identity Module (CSIM) cards. There are aswell a few types of UICCs that are programmed to plan with GSM, UMTS, CDMA, and CDMA2000, including CSIM/USIM cards and Disposable User Identity Module (R-UIM) cards.

Generally speaking, both networks accept adequately concentrated advantage in above cities and forth above highways. GSM carriers, however, accept adrift affairs with added GSM carriers, acceptance added advantage of added rural areas, about speaking, generally after adrift accuse to the customer. CDMA networks may not awning rural areas as well, and admitting they may arrangement with GSM beef for adrift in added rural areas, the allegation to the chump can be decidedly higher.

Some GSM and CDMA carriers action all-embracing roaming, which agency users can still use their phones if traveling abroad. To plan internationally, the buzz has to be a quad-band phone, which agency that it works with frequencies of 850, 900, 1800, and 1900 MHz. Additionally, the buzz does accept to be apart and the user does accept to be aggravating to use a arrangement that exists in the country, which is sometimes added difficult to do with CDMA aback beneath countries accept CDMA networks. If the buzz is apart and there is a arrangement present, though, again users can buy a UICC with account and a bounded amount in the country in which they're traveling to abstain paying all-embracing rates.

The acumen amid the two technologies is abundantly extraneous in 4G phones, aback both can be acclimated with the both of the capital standards acclimated with 4G phones, Continued Term Evolution (LTE) and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax). Aback GSM and CDMA plan by agency of radio waves, but 4G technologies plan by agency of an IP network, the radio signals from both accept to be translated into cyberbanking abstracts for use on the arrangement or the buzz has to about-face aback to a 2G or 3G arrangement to accomplish articulation calls.