Different Frequency Bands used in different continents of the world.

Different Frequency Bands used in different continents of the world.

If you want to travel to different  continents of the world with your mobile phone, not only the mobile operator or SIM card matters, but also the capabilities of your mobile phone. You may sometimes want to go to USA ( say you are living in Srilanka). You will go to one of the mobile operators and ask for the roaming facility. First question they will ( should ) ask from you is that whether your phone is a dual band, tri band or quad band. All of a sudden you have got into a some kind of trouble because you don’t know about these frequency bands. This post will give you some idea about different frequency bands used in different countries.

Dual-band - A dual-band phone operates at both the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz spectrum. Dual-band works in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and much of South America. Normal 2G phones used in Srilanka like Nokia 1200, 3310 are included into this category.

In Europe two bands (900/1800 MHz) are used in the same country to improve coverage.

In America two bands (850/1900 MHz) are used in the same country to improve coverage.

Dual band phones are also used to enable roaming between different countries. For example, a cellphone with dual band 850/1800 MHz will work in both the United States (850 MHz) and India (1800 MHz).

Examples for Dual Band Phones: Nokia X6, 1800, 1280, N900

Tri-band - A tri-band phone operates on three frequency bands, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 1900 MHz, allowing you to use it in Europe, Africa, Asia, nearly all of North America, Australia and New Zealand

2G Triband phones are mobile phones that support the GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz bands commonly sold in Europe, Asia and Africa, (for example the LG KE820 is a triband mobile phone that is sold in Europe, but works in big cities of America but not so well in suburbs and rural areas).Or alternatively the 850/1800/1900 bands (commonly sold in the Americas). The Motorola V300 formerly carried by Rogers Wireless used a rare combination of 850/900/1900. A 2G Quad band (850/900/1800/1900) offers more coverage and is now quite common.

Examles for Tri-Band Phones: Nokia 5530, 6700, X3, C5

A 3G Quad band offers more coverage.

Quad-band - A quad-band phone allows you to roam almost anywhere globally. It covers the 850 Mhz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 1900 MHz frequency ranges. Many countries in South America only have 850 MHz GSM service while both 1900 MHZ and 850 MHz GSM services are supported in the USA. 99% of all countries use the GSM standard. We believe eventually GSM will be the only cell phone standard in the world.

A quad-band mobile phone is used to designate a phone that can operate in the following GSM frequency bands:
• 850 MHz (U.S./Canada/Latin America/Brazil (Only the carrier Vivo))
• 900 MHz (Africa/Europe/Brazil/Africa/Australia/Asia (ex Japan and S. Korea))
• 1800 MHz (Africa/Europe/Australia/Asia/Brazil)
• 1900 MHz (U.S./Canada/Latin America)

Examles for Quad-Band Phones: Nokia E6, 5800, 5230, N8