GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) is the world's leading cell phone standard, which was first adopted in Europe and then spread throughout Asia, Africa and the Pacific Rim (Australia, N. Zealand, etc.).
This explains why the same cell phone that works in London also works in Johannesburg, Beijing and Sydney. The United States however did not standardize and it was left to the competing wire carriers to create whatever standard they wished. This explains why many US outbound travelers have a hard time getting wireless coverage when they are overseas without paying $1-$7/minute.
The United States and much of South America adopted an assortment of incompatible cell phone standards operating on different frequencies. Consequently a typical a cell phone in North America is not capable of service outside of North America
North American GSM cellular providers operate on 1900 frequency only. Consequently if you have a GSM cell phone in the United States or Canada it is usually a GSM 1900 ONLY cellular phone. So if you happen to be one of the few cell phone subscribers in the US with a GSM cell phone you are still most likely to be out of luck when it comes to using your cell phone overseas.
GSM cellular providers in South America, Central America and the Caribbean may be on the 900, 1800 or 1900 GSM frequency. Be aware that GSM coverage in very new in this part of the world and coverage will vary significantly. For guaranteed coverage, particularly in the Caribbean and Central America we suggest a Satellite phone.
Some cell phones are "hybrid phones" which means they operate on 2 incompatible cell phone standards while other phones claim to be "world phones", they simply operate on 2 or 3 bands of GSM.
GSM 900/1800/1900 cell phones give you the most geographical coverage but usually the only big advantage to these cell phone models is being able to use them in North America and a few extra countries in South America. So you may be best served with a GSM cell phone that operates on the 900/1800 frequencies, particularly if you already have service with Sprint or Verizon.
There is no single phone that works everywhere except a satellite phone and although they are hand-held they don't work indoors.
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