XL wrote:
Would an unlocked phone that has these specs work on Telus?
- Tri-band 3G UMTS 2100/1900/850/800 Mhz
- Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
Is UMTS and HSPA the same? Will I get the same speeds as buying the same model in Canada?
Yes this unit would work. When dealing with 3G compatibility "Robelus" and AT&T, the bands you'll need to look for are 850 (band V) and 1900 (band II).
There are technical differences in the terms UMTS and HSPA. I'm no wireless technical expert, but my understanding is UMTS is the original 3G specification (Release 99), while HSPA (in itself divides into HSDPA and HSUPA for download and upload connections respectively) is an enhancement to UMTS for achieving higher data bandwidth. (I believe the bandwidth is measured in Kb/s in the original R99 specs; now you'll get 42Mb/s with Telus dual cell HSPA+.)
It's like the original GSM specification, and EDGE is enhancement to GSM in terms of data transfer (higher bandwidth).
However, most consumers or marketing departments of the carriers use the term interchangeably.
As for whether you'll get the same speed as you'll buy a device in Canada, that will depend on the device you are comparing it to. For example, an iPhone 4S will never "achieve the same speed" from a technical perspective if you compare it with the Samsung Galaxy S II X, because 4S has a max. speed of 14.4 Mbps, while the SGSIIX - because it implements dual cell HSPA+ - can achieve up to 42 Mbps. And both can be purchased here in Canada from Telus. OTH my Nexus One can do 7.2; same as iPhone 4.
