at1988

was it a conspiracy with Verizon with the Spectrum and Rezound? It was months after they came out that Verizon clarified that they had GSM roaming capabilities.

Why would Sprint want to hide it? The sim card is embedded, making all the roaming go through Sprint. That is more money for them if it is enabled.

Not all LTE handsets are guaranteed to be international roaming capable. Verizon has had a lot of their recent handsets be capable, but the Verizon galaxy nexus is not. It is probably more likely that Verizon is specifically asking for international capabilities to offset any perceived advantage of AT&T where you can use an unlocked international handset on att or virtually anywhere in the world.

 

From JBtoro on Forum Runner

 

They could want to gauge interest of it on the internet and thru customers, because there is a capital cost in producing the update. And because the SIM is embedded, they might want to gauge if users would want the ability to roam on GSM without the option of even putting another SIM in. THey could also be seeing if there'd be an option to make it removable (ie charge money for a new back piece and its installation, one which allows SIM removal). And Sprint would probably have to go thru the FCC to send an OTA, tho no one originally knew the Rezound or Spectrum would get the international treatment when they came out. Of course there's also the issue of, say, Sprint having deals with Motorola and RIM, but seeing as Sprint's on a good path, their stock has skyrocketed, management should be more wise than to listen to Sprint.

 

I still also have my Photon, which I believe is already unlocked outside the US. But I like my GS3 better. MUCH better.

pyroscott,

 

when the HTC Rezound and the LG Spectrum came out on Verizon, no one knew or thought they had global roaming capabilities. But when it was found out then the cat got out of the bag. S

No, just no. Too many superficially knowledgable techies seem to think that any problem is fixable in software, that any technology can be reduced to the size of a microchip.

 

Yes, all domestic Galaxy S3 models are based on the same Qualcomm MSM8960 chipset, which contains a multimode 3GPP/3GPP2 LTE capable modem. But far more than just modem, airlink and band/band class capability require compatible power amps, filters, and antennas -- physical things that cannot be replicated in software and are a bit larger than microchips.

 

As Scott points out above, Samsung has submitted to the FCC four different Galaxy S3 LTE versions for VZW, AT&T, Sprint, and USCC. Maybe all of those versions contain the same power amps, filters, and antennas to support LTE bands 2, 4, 5, 12, 13, 17, and 25. But that is quite unlikely, and the onus is on you to prove your claim that they contain all the same hardware.

 

 

 

No, wrong again. LTE is an OFDMA airlink with an all IP core. GSM and W-CDMA are neither. That 3GPP developed LTE as an evolutionary path for GSM/W-CDMA and other carriers does not make it GSM, nor GSM based. Anything otherwise is GSM cartel propaganda.

 

AJ

I spoke on the phone with a Sprint representative, who told me to my ear that if Sprint wanted to, they could issue an update. Also, it would likely cost Samsung too much to make 6 actually-different variations, when in reality (minus the Sprint embedded SIM) there are only 3: T/S/VZ/USC, International, and T-Mobile USA. Are you gonna tell me that now, the GS3 doesn't have a SIM card just because Sprint covered it up?

Correction: LTE isn't GSM. It is a 3GPP standard, sure, along with HSPA. But saying that it's like GSM is like saying WiFi is like WiMAX because they are both IEEE 802.x standards.

 

I too hope that the S3 gets its HSPA radio unlocked. However I'm not even sure the phone on Sprint has that radio inside.

 

Its the same physical device across carriers, minus the firmware and the covered SIM card in the Sprint one, per a Sprint representative. And we know people hacked the Verizon Galaxy Nexus to accept GSM. A radio is simply firmware, like if one wants to make a Photon work on ATT/Tmobile, they flash a radio and unlocking the bootloader, etc.

 

LTE IS GSM based: "Long Term Evolution (LTE), is the latest standard in the mobile network technology tree that produced the GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSxPA network technologies."

 

Hence why Sprint and Verizon LTE phones have SIM cards: Sprint just tries to literally cover them up.

 

It would make perfect sense for Sprint to allow global roaming, especially if the SIM card is sealed under plastic: we could go overseas, they'd collect on roaming. This

So as people know, Verizon, also a CDMA carrier, is going to issue an OTA update which will let Galaxy S3 owners take their phones around the world, including to GSM countries. I called up Sprint and asked them: if Sprint wanted to, could they do the same, and the guy told me that if they wanted to, they could. Now LTE is a GSM based technology, which means that any LTE phone has GSM capabilities either enabled or disabled in part. I switched from a Photon, which I still own, in part knowing that this could happen. But the Photon doesn't have LTE or SVDO. The GS3 does have a SIM card, but the plastic cover in the battery case covers, or embeds it.

 

I found a petition online seeking to encourage Sprint to do the same. Shouldn't this be a part of the Network Vision, to give customers as many reasons to stay with Sprint as possible?