CDMA (or Code Division Multiple Access) is a network technology that once had two major types of networks in the United States, along with GSM.
Both CDMA and GSM (in their own way) make it possible to transmit multiple calls and the Internet in a single radio signal. This technology helped promote the use of cellular phones in the 90’s.
What is CDMA Carrier?
CDMA stands for Code Division Multiple Access. A carrier is a wireless telephone company that provides access to the public network. All of these terms are related, but they are not interchangeable. This article will explain each term individually and provide links to other articles explaining their relationships with one another.
How does CDMA technology work?
Simply explained it assigns all phones within range of a tower or cell phone site with the same code to transmit on at any given time which prevents clashing frequencies between multiple devices sending signals at once allowing for greater carrying capacity in limited spectrums created by FCC regulations on bandwidth use by wireless companies under Part 22 rules where carriers are permitted 20mhz used by 5 carriers with 2.5mhz guard bands which are unused areas between the carriers preventing them from interfering with each other.
CDMA technology originated by Qualcomm in 1990 was initially used by former competitor McCaw Cellular now AT&T who licensed its cellular technology to Apple so it could build the first iPhone for AT&T’s network, Verizon uses a variation of CDMA technology called EVDO Rev-A which is actually faster than the normal CDMA revised standard citing higher data speeds up to 3.1mbps but is not as densely saturated or available in rural areas because of bandwidth limitations that run at 800kbps vs 1.8mbps on regular CDMA networks that are quickly catching up since they use wider spectrums of bandwidth.
CDMA technology is not used by the most populous nation in the world China and its surrounding countries, Japan or South Korea that both use GSM standards which stands for Global System for Mobile communications that works on Sim cards to lock phones into service with carriers when you buy a phone your locked to that carrier until they unlock it once you finish your contract with them according to Sim card rules set in place by FCC FCC-E9-82 under Part 22 of their regulations pertaining to wireless devices and services.
