With the advent of digital cellular technology, CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) and GSM (Global System for Mobile) by far have been the core standards for providing voice services. These two technologies have stood adjacent to each other competing for several years. Opting between the two isn’t a difficult task as both technologies have their own pros and cons.

GSM vs CDMA

Amongst the two, GSM has relatively gained more popularity worldwide. Its origin lies in the 1980s and was first deployed in 1991 by Radiolinja in Finland. With key features like International Roaming, Quad-Band cell phones, SIM cards and Coverage (as it’s deployed in most parts of the world), it stands ahead of CDMA. It only lacks in data throughput which is up to 384kbps (about 70kbps to 140kbps in practice) for EDGE and up to 7.2mbps theoretical download speed for HSDPA (3.5G standard).

The concept of CDMA came into existence in 1988 and was first launched commercially in 1995 by Hutchison Telecom in Hong Kong. CDMA being a better technology than GSM provides greater efficiency in serving more subscribers, call quality and data transfer speed. It mainly lacks in coverage (only deployed in North America and some parts of Asia), usage of RUIM cards and International Roaming. The uniqueness of CDMA lies in its higher data rate which is up to 153kbps (about 60kbps to 100kbps in practice) for 1X packet data services, 3.1mbps (about 600kbps to 1400kbps download speed in practice) for EVDO Rev A (3G standard) and over 14.7mbps for EVDO Rev B.

Let’s conclude in few points that which Technology is best for you.
  • If you are irritated with call dropping, voice distortion problems, then CDMA is the only one to ease your annoyance from this issue, for these errors doesn’t exist in CDMA technology. Whereas a GSM user experience all these call quality issues.
  • If you change mobile phones frequently, then you should opt for GSM, as on GSM you just insert the same old SIM (used in your previous phone) to your new handset for availing the very facilities. Although on CDMA, you need to contact your carrier to re-program your new phone, which seems to be a hurdle for many customers.
  • If you are one of those people who enjoy transferring more data on phone by web surfing, downloading, watching videos, etc. then of course CDMA is the best choice for you, as it is the most reliable network with speedy data transferring technology.
  • If you are frequent visitor or love travelling to foreign countries, then GSM with its better coverage and International Roaming facility is a perfect option for you.

In the end, it is simply up to the need of a subscriber whichever service to opt. It also depends upon the service provided by the operator in relation to the coverage and rates offered.

So what do you think, which one of the two above mobile technologies is more desirable? Please send us your feedback and let us know about your choice in the Comment Box below.

For more similar Technology updates, please follow us on Twitter & Facebook, and also subscribe to our RSS Feed.