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Understanding Triband Mobile Phones Better

Triband mobile phones support three frequency bands. You might ask how does it matter whether the phone has one, two, or three frequency bands. Well, it DOES matter. A triband phone allows international roaming between nations that have that particular transmission frequency or enables a wider coverage within the country.

Several nations utilize different frequency bands for mobile networks. You can use triband mobile phones on three such bands. Two of the bands are home country’s bands while the third is for international roaming.

The GSM frequency bands used worldwide are:

  1. 850 MHz (In America)
  2. 1900 MHz (In America)
  3. 1800 MHz (In Europe, Asia, and parts of Latin America)
  4. 900 MHz (In Europe, and parts of Latin America and Asia

2G Triband Mobile Phones

2G Triband phones support GSM frequency: 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, and 1900 MHz that are generally available in Europe, Africa, and Asia. Let’s take an example. The LG KE820, which is a triband phone, is actually designed for Europe, but it can also work in the metro cities of America. The V300 model of Motorola features an exceptional combination of GSM frequencies: 850 MHz, 900 MHz, and 1900 MHz. A popular combination is that of 2G Quad band with these frequencies: 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, and 1900 MHz. It has a wider coverage.

UMTS Bands

UMTS/HSDPA devices utilize UMTS frequencies: 850 MHz, 1900 MHZ, and 2100 MHz or a combination of frequencies: 850 MHz, 1700 MHz, and 2100 MHz. These frequencies are elaborated below:

  1. A combination of Downlink 2100 and uplink 1900. This is for Europe and Asia. It’s commonly known as W-CDMA 2100.

  2. For uplink as well as downlink, independent frequencies: 1900 MHz and 850 MHz. This is for America. Example is AT&T.
  3. A combination of downlink 2100 and uplink 1700 frequencies. This is for America. Example is T-Mobile.
  4. Frequency band of 850 is for Australia. Example is Telstra NextG.

You should remember that UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA triband phone doesn’t always indicate that it’s GSM/GPRS/EDGE triband. It may also happen that an HSUPA triband mobile is not GSM at all. But, almost all HSUPA or HSDPA triband mobile phones are EDGE quad band phones. A 3G Quad band mobile phone gives better coverage.

Examples Of UMTS/HSDPA 850/1900/2100 Tri Band Phones Include:

  1. Huawei
  2. Palm - Treo 750 (UMTS only)
  3. UBiQUiO - 503G
  4. Sony Ericsson – Z750,PC300, K850i, C902, W760i, MD300

Examples Of UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA 850/1900/2100 Tri Band Phones Include:

  1. Huawei – E270 Wireless modem (USB)

  2. Sony Ericsson – EC400g (plus GPS)
  3. Novatel Wireless – Merlin X950D ExpressCard
  4. Apple – iPhone 3G (it also has Assisted GPS). It’s available only till July 11, 2008
  5. HTC - HTC Omni

Get triband mobile phones and enjoy a new calling experience!