Quad band

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Quad band (also known as quad-band or quadband) literally means four (4) bands. Most people come across the term when it is used to describe a mobile phone supporting four frequency bands.

1 2G
2 3G
- 2.1 Devices
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] 2G

The GSM standard originated in Europe, where mobile phones occupy two frequency bands: one in the 900 MHz range and one in the 1800 MHz range. When GSM technology crossed the Atlantic to the Americas, it was impossible to reuse the same European frequency bands since those had already been allocated to other devices by the FCC. Hence, a different pair of frequency bands were made available for GSM use: the 850 and 1900 MHz bands.

In summary, a quad-band mobile phone is used to designate a phone that can operate in the following GSM frequency bands:

850 MHz (In USA)
900 MHz (In Europe)
1800 MHz (In Europe)
1900 MHz (In USA)

Some companies refer to this feature as "World Phone", due to the variety of bands a quad-band phone supports.

Note that nearly all quad band doesn't cover GSM 400 (450 - 480 MHz), a band used in sparsely populated areas or in less developed countries due to its longer range. A Five band phone (400/850/900/1800/1900) is possible but no one has been announced.

[edit] 3G

UMTS / HSDPA / HSUPA quad band phones are expected soon. Frequency bands are 800/850/1900/2100 or 850/1700/1900/2100 MHz:

2100 (downlink) / 1900 (uplink) for Europe and Asia (usually referred simply as W-CDMA 2100)
1900 / 850 (independently, for both the uplink and downlink) for America (e.g. Cingular Wireless)
2100 (downlink) / 1700 (uplink) for America (e.g. T-Mobile)
800 for Japan

Note that being UMTS / HSDPA / HSUPA quad band doesn't mean that phone is a GSM / GPRS / EDGE quad band. An HSUPA quad band could not be a GSM at all. However nearly all HSUPA quad band are EDGE quad band too.

A Five band phone (800/850/1700/1900/2100) is possible but none have been announced.