Mobile network providers also go by the name phone carriers or wireless carriers because they are the telecommunications companies in charge of offering mobile users cellular network connectivity. They keep subscriber information, including voice, SMS, MMS, and Internet plans, as well as your phone number.
You may be wondering, are internet service providers (ISPs) the same as Phone carriers? The two are quite different but are occasionally used synonymously. You can’t make phone calls if you don’t have cellular access, even if only ISPs essentially provide you with internet services.
Cellphone providers nevertheless may also act as an ISP by offering both cellular and internet connectivity.
Mobile Phone Carriers Types
There are two different kinds of phone carriers: GSM/GSMA (Global System for Mobile Communication/Association) and CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access). Each of them has been thoroughly explained down below.
What is GSM/GSMA?
These phone providers rely on SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards to hold information on subscribers to their mobile network, such as phone numbers, voice, text, and data plans. In other words, whether it is an embedded eSIM or a traditional SIM card, your wireless services are distributed on the SIM.
What is CDMA?
To verify users, CDMA uses an ESN (electronic serial number) that is cross-referenced against a list on the network provider’s end. In simpler terms, it’s used by the network operator when they want to confirm a user’s identity. It doesn’t often use a SIM card, in contrast to GSM, instead, it uses an electronic serial number.
To use your phone carrier’s mobile network, your smartphone must first have carrier approval before you can use it. Given that subscriber information is essentially saved on the phone, switching phones and keeping your phone number, as well as your voice and data plans, would be impossible.
CDMA operators also use SIM for LTE connections because you cannot use LTE without a SIM.
GSM and CDMA are both 2G networks in terms of network technology generation. Unlike the rest of the world, which adopted GSM Due to its advantages at the time, CDMA was chosen by some US firms, including the Sprint and Verizon parent companies.
With the introduction of LTE (Long Term Evolution) and now 5G, CDMA and GSM are practically completely meaningless in the present world as they both only have significance up to the 3G period, which is largely owned by Qualcomm.
A notable differentiating factor is that whereas 3G CDMA users were previously unable to simultaneously transmit voice calls and data over the same connection, this was remedied by voice-over-LTE for GSM users.
In the beginning, CDMA was speedier and more promising than GSM. It was the GSM GPRS and CDMA IS-95 or cdmaOne standards that helped usher in the transition from analogue to digital cellular technology. Later, faster 2G connections such as EDGE for GSM and 1xRTT for CDMA were created.
With the introduction of HSPA/HSPA+ technology, which is like an upgraded version of 3G and is substantially better and quicker than the CDMA equivalent of 3G, GSM was able to catch up to and even surpass CDMA. Upgraded CMDA standards like CDMA2000 exist, but they need three times as much spectrum, hence 4G LTE was used in their place to comply with the international standard.
The future of GSM and CDMA
GSM and CDMA are quickly fading away in wealthy nations like the USA.
In 2022, legacy 3G support was discontinued on all significant US cellular networks. A portion of T-Mobile’s network started to be shut down towards the end of March, AT&T finished sunsetting its 3G GSM network in late February, and Verizon formally ended its legacy network on December 31.
Today GSM and CDMA networks are out of date, except poor nations that still primarily rely on GSM networks, thanks to advancements in cellular technology.
Conclusion
We hope this has given you a better understanding of how Mobile Wireless Networks work and what phone carriers mean.
