Multi-mode and Multi-band Mobile Phones
Most mobile phone networks are digital and use the GSM, CDMA or iDEN standard which operate at various radio frequencies. These phones can only be used with a service plan from the same company. For example, a Verizon phone cannot be used with a T-Mobile service, and vica versa.
A multi-mode phone operates across different standards whereas a multi-band phone (also known more specifically as dual, tri or quad band) mobile phone is a phone which is designed to work on more than one radio frequency. Some multi-mode phones can operate on analog networks as well (for example, dual band, tri-mode: AMPS 800 / CDMA 800 / CDMA 1900).
For a GSM phone, dual-band usually means 850 / 1900 MHz in the United States and Canada, 900 / 1800 MHz in Europe and most other countries. Tri-band means 850 / 1800 / 1900 MHz or 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz. Quad-band means 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz, also called a world phone, since it can work on any GSM network.
Multi-band phones have been valuable to enable roaming whereas multi-mode phones helped to introduce WCDMA features without customers having to give up the wide coverage of GSM. Almost every single true 3G phone sold is actually a WCDMA/GSM dual-mode mobile. This is also true of 2.75G phones such as those based on CDMA-2000 or EDGE.
Read more about this topic: Mobile Phone Features
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