With the new dual antennas (CDMA & GSM) inside the iPhone 4S, will I be able to roam in Europe on their GSM networks at will? I've been on AT&T for 3 years because of traveling requirements but am ready to hop back to VZW if this is true. Thanks.

Since it is a global phone then yes, you will be able to roam on the GSM networks while traveling in Europe. It works the same as it does with other global phones Verizon's sell (I previously had a global BlackBerry, and when traveling abroad I had access...

a2miguy wrote:Question for those of you smarter than me (which is probably all of you...lol): If the new iphone 4s really IS a global phone, why do the specs on Verizon's website list only CDMA? https://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/store/controller?item=phoneFirst&action=viewPhoneDetail&selectedPhoneId=5776 I have been waiting for the 'next' iPhone before upgrading to my first smartphone. I had almost settled on theMoto Droid 3, which is a global phone. But when I heard the iPhone 4s would be global on Verizon, I got all excited. I just want to be sure. Is this just a mistake on the website?Well, no idea of relative smartness, but...! From the Apple site, this phone is clearly global capable. So I would guess it is mistake, perhaps cut+paste from the iPhone 4. From what others have posted, when you preorder this phone, you get the option to choose a global plan, so this is supported. Now if you travel a lot I would wait to see if this phone can be unlocked. You really don't want to have to pay VZs international rates if there is a choice! Both, for example, the Droid 3 and HTC Inc 2 can be unlocked, but of course some iPhone features may be more important to you.

Question for those of you smarter than me (which is probably all of you...lol): If the new iphone 4s really IS a global phone, why do the specs on Verizon's website list only CDMA? https://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/store/controller?item=phoneFirst&action=viewPhoneDetail&selectedPhoneId=5776 I have been waiting for the 'next' iPhone before upgrading to my first smartphone. I had almost settled on theMoto Droid 3, which is a global phone. But when I heard the iPhone 4s would be global on Verizon, I got all excited. I just want to be sure. Is this just a mistake on the website?

silver6055, you're smarter than I thought you were. Now we're talking about the same crap at work... Anyways yes I know all of that... I just don't want to violate these forums ToS (because someone else was talking about it and got the post deleted by a mod)... Google if you really want to know...

willzzz88 wrote:What silver656 is asking of using VZW Global phones once unlocked on the AT&T network in the US is NOT allowed to be discussed here. It's possible, people with computer programming knowledge and IT people do it all the time (including the guy who has TWO US +1 numbers on a VZW global phone, not BOTH active at the same the same time, when on VZW CDMA it's on the VZW NAM, when on GSM mode it's reading the AT&T goPhone prepaid SIM card for a private +1 number)... Data works if you manually add the AT&T APN to it... There is NO VZW support if you ever do that and the only people that do that are IT/programmers and some people who really know what their doing... Thanks for the reply on the 900 band but what you say above isn't true at all. Some phones, in particular the HTC Incredible 2 and as an earlier non-smartphone, the Samsung Renown for example, work fine once unlocked using the unlock codes from Verizon Global Services and putting in a third-party SIM. They then pick up any GSM signal present. These phones do not have the radio band lock present in the droids so nothing wrong is being done! Again, the codes are given by Global Services to allow the use of third-party SIMs. (Now if I were talking about defeating the Band lock, yes, but I wasn't!)

What silver656 is asking of using VZW Global phones once unlocked on the AT&T network in the US is NOT allowed to be discussed here. It's possible, people with computer programming knowledge and IT people do it all the time (including the guy who has TWO US +1 numbers on a VZW global phone, not BOTH active at the same the same time, when on VZW CDMA it's on the VZW NAM, when on GSM mode it's reading the AT&T goPhone prepaid SIM card for a private +1 number)... Data works if you manually add the AT&T APN to it... There is NO VZW support if you ever do that and the only people that do that are IT/programmers and some people who really know what their doing... Anyways back to the point yes it is now a global phone like all other VZW global phones with the VZW 3G roaming SIM card... 900MHz GSM/UMTS/HSPA+ in addition to 850MHz is used for a lower band macro/node capacity add for in-building penetration (example: AT&T uses 850MHz as the lower band like VZW's 800MHz in the US)... This is similar to Vodafone in Europe's 900MHz outside of the Americas... (Americas uses 850MHz instead and certain other countries...). Basically the 800/850MHz (same thing in CDMA/GSM) and 900MHz (abroad) are the lower bands and the 1900/2100MHz are the upper bands... The new VZW BB has the EXACT SAME SETUP (9930). The iPhone 4S has the SAME GLOBAL CAPABILITIES as the BB 9930 and the new Android global phones COMBINED (850/1900Mhz GSM/UMTS/HSPA+ in the Americas + 900/2100MHz GSM/UMTS/HSPA+) so actually what Apple did in engineering of using dynamic bands (the new iPhone 4S'es MAIN ADVANTAGE is it WON'T DROP CALLS) because Apple finally fixed the whole reception problem with TWO diversity antennas, one on the top and one on the bottom. Read Macrumors and all the other industry sites if you want more info... This way it REMOVES the end user knowing of how to hold the **bleep** phone and the signal will go out either way (if holding @ bottom the antannae is at the top, ditto for the bottom).

kaebfly wrote:silver6055 wrote: On the Moto Droid phones, Verizon has blocked the use of GSM in the US (so that you cannot use it on AT&T in the US for example). It's not universal as the HTC Inc2 doesn't have them blocked, but I would expect that VZ would want them blocked on the iPhone 4SI'm not aware of any VZW (or CDMA) phone that can be unlocked and used on AT&T in the US (I may be wrong)...and it's not what the OP was asking about. As far as I know of, the only truly unlocked (different than a "global" phone) phones have to be GSM phones.Yes, as mentioned above, the HTC Incredible 2 can be used on AT&T in the US once unlocked (I only know this because I have one). Of course no pure CDMA phone can be used on AT&T. I know that wasn't what the OP was asking, my other paragraphs addressed some of that. And yes, the global phones have to be GSM, and, if you are willing to use the supplied Vodafone SIM, you don't need to unlock them.

silver6055 wrote: On the Moto Droid phones, Verizon has blocked the use of GSM in the US (so that you cannot use it on AT&T in the US for example). It's not universal as the HTC Inc2 doesn't have them blocked, but I would expect that VZ would want them blocked on the iPhone 4SI'm not aware of any VZW (or CDMA) phone that can be unlocked and used on AT&T in the US (I may be wrong)...and it's not what the OP was asking about. As far as I know of, the only truly unlocked (different than a "global" phone) phones have to be GSM phones.

kaebfly wrote:Since it is a global phone then yes, you will be able to roam on the GSM networks while traveling in Europe. It works the same as it does with other global phones Verizon's sell (I previously had a global BlackBerry, and when traveling abroad I had access to GSM networks...it isn't cheap but you probably already know that). If you look at the Apple website you can see more details on the specs page for the iPhone 4s now.Interesting, the Apple page lists: UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz) whereas the current VZ global Androids don't have the 900MHz. Anyone know where that is used? For any global travel on Verizon, now that the unlimited global data plan has gone, it makes sense to use a local SIM, so it remains to be seen if Verizon has the same unlocking policy for this phone as for its other world phones. (Basically account in good standing for so long, and a time limit before you can unlock another phone on the same line). On the Moto Droid phones, Verizon has blocked the use of GSM in the US (so that you cannot use it on AT&T in the US for example). It's not universal as the HTC Inc2 doesn't have them blocked, but I would expect that VZ would want them blocked on the iPhone 4S

Re: iPhone 4S now a 'Global' phone?

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Thanks, silver. I don't travel abroad more than once or twice a year... it'd just be really nice to have a phone that works when I do. Making a call back to the US from a pay phone using a credit card is not the easiest thing to do, nor is it cheap. Next obstacle for me personally.... divorcing myself from a slide-out qwerty keyboard. People have been raving about the Droid 3's kb, so that's not helping! Thanks again. I think I'll shoot VZW an email about their apparent gaffe on the website.

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