What Cell phone frequencies are used in these countries?

Mobile communications in Brazil are pretty well developed. But it can be said not about the whole country, because north western regions lack not only mobile communications, but even basic stationary land line phones. That's a pretty common problem for countries of Latin America, for example Mexico has the same issues with communications in mountain regions.






Major mobile carriers here are TIM, Claro, Vivo and Oi. We should also mention the fact that TIM and Vivo are the only nationwide mobile carriers, while Claro operates in all states except Amazon basin states. Oi is not nation wide too and their services are limited.






But the biggest carrier on the Brazilian market is TIM. It's telephony network is nationwide and is based on the GSM technology. That company has a range of almost 94% of Brazilian urban population and is available in 3203 cities. All the carriers in Brazil provide a mobile internet access based on GPRS and EDGE technologies. EDGE technology is available in 79% of GSM covered area of the country.






Brazil_GSM_Standard




All of those carriers provide GSM services and GSM standard in Brazil is similar to US and Canada. It uses 900/1800 MHz frequencies to transmit voice calls and text messages, so if you are planning to visit this country and have a GSM 900/1800 mobile phone it will be really convenient to purchase a local SIM card. As you can see Brazil uses so called European GSM standard and if you a traveling for the US – your mobile device won't work in their networks.






3G service is also presented in this country and it works with a most widely spread 2100 MHz frequency, but TIM provides both 2100 MHz and WCDMA, that uses 850 MHz for 3G. Mobile Internet is available mostly in big cities, the coverage in rural areas is pretty weak and sometimes even unavailable. But 3G market grows pretty fast in Brazil, it is pretty obvious because the share of 3G enabled smartphones sold in Brazil grows and in 2012 12 million of 3G enabled devices were sold here.






TIM_Coverage


Another reason of such fast market growth is the fact that mobile communications are rather cheap in Brazil, but on the other hand, roaming is very expensive, so if you are a tourist – make sure to buy a local SIM card, they are sold free here. Also we should admit that 3G Internet access is available to 54% of urban population of Brazil.






And now a couple of words about 4G. Brazil is building its 4G network now and it will be launched soon. Now major mobile carriers are getting licenses for broadcasting at 4G frequencies. 4G coverage will probably be available on the same territory, where 3G is presented.






As we have already mentioned Brazil has rather poor coverage in a sparsely populated areas, but all those four major carriers provide mobile services for almost 98% of the Brazilian population. As a short conclusion we ca say that mobile communications grow pretty quickly in Brazil and most of the problems with mobile coverage are caused by the lack of investment and low populations in some areas.

The second generation of mobile communications is the most widely used in Russian Federation. That generation is presented with GSM 900/1800 and CDMA 450 standards. Both of those standards are used for voice calls, text messages and mobile internet access, though it is not that fast as 3G and far more slower that 4G network that works in some regions of Russia. Major providers here are MegaFon, MTS, Beeline, VympelCom and Tele2. The average coverage compiles up to 85% of country's territory. But we should mention that MTS has a 100% coverage over the all Russian Federation.





GSM Coverage In Russia






GSM standard in Russia uses 900 and 1800 MHz frequencies. As long as all mobile phones are duplex devices they use two frequencies simultaneously, one for receiving and one for sending information. Network based positioning or cell tower triangulation uses exactly those frequencies. CDMA works at around 463-467 MHz and 2000-2100 MHz. As it was already mentioned – those standards are used for text messages and voice calls. GPRS and EDGE mobile Internet technology also uses those frequency bands. You can view the full frequency chart of Russian mobile communications below.






Russian Frequencies Chart(Russian Frequency Allocation Chart)





Third generation of mobile communications, which are widely used all over the world are used in Russian Federation too. Those networks are working at a very high frequency range and the most common radio frequency for those networks is 2000 MHz frequency band. Data transmissions speeds in that generation of mobile communications varies between 2-14 Mbit/s. 3G enables fast mobile Internet access and the possibility to use video calls.






3G Coverage In Russia






When it comes to Russia we can say that MTS, MegaFon, VympelCom and Beeline are the major carriers and they maintain 3G networks in 120 major cities of Russian Federation. 1935-2170 MHz frequency is used for 3G networks in Russia. The coverage of 3G mobile service is not that big, it is concentrated in densely populated areas.






4G networks were recently presented in Russia too. The first companies that were building those networks were Yota and Freshtel. After those two carriers MTS and MegaFon started to develop their own networks. Russian Federation has its own factory that produces 4G base stations and network equipment. Fourth generation of mobile communications develops really fast in Russia, the first city where the 4G LTE network was launched was Novosibirsk and then Moscow. There are two big frequency bands that were assigned for 4G and they are 791-862 MHz for LTE and 2500-2600 for Wi-Max. 4G LTE works in Moscow, St.Petersburg, Sochi, Samara, Novosibirsk, Ufa and Krasnodar.






4G World Map






That were the most popular mobile standards in Russia, but we should also mention that they have their own global navigation system that is a worthy substitution to American GPS. That GNSS is called GLONASS and it also has some differences. While GPS works in three channels and uses 1575.42, 1227.60 and 1176.45 MHz frequencies, GLONASS works with 2 channels and its frequencies are 1602-1615 and 1246-1256 MHz. GLONASS satellites have higher orbits and that's the reason why they have better productivity in near-polar regions. Both GPS and GLONASS are frequently used in Russian Federation.






Glonass






If you are a traveler you should know that biggest mobile carriers in Russia provide a decent roaming services, but if you would like to buy a local SIM card with local phone number you will have to show you papers to the dealer. That's a common procedure in Russia.

Sweden is one of the most advanced countries when it comes to mobile communications. The Swedish carriers provide access to all existing mobile communications generations, from 2G to the latest 4G. As you know the 2G is used for voice calls and text messaging. Also GPRS internet access is also based on that second generation. Mobile phones in Sweden use GSM standard for voice calls, it uses European GSM frequencies 900/1800 MHz. 3G is also widely used and it is based on the HSPA+ standard and it can reach a maximum of 28 Mbit/s downlink speed. 3G coverage is pretty wide and it covers all highly populated areas of the country. 3G in Sweden uses 2100 MHz. Recently the 4G network was presented in Sweden and the major carriers have started developing it. Now Sweden mobile gadgets users may use the benefits of 4G, those who reside in the southern part of the country may be sure that they will have a decent reception.






TELE2 Coverage






Major mobile carriers are TELE2, Telenor Sverige AB and Telia Sonera. They all support GSM standard so all the GSM 900/1800 mobile phones will work there. TELE2 is a powerful international service provider that works in 11 countries so you may count on nice and pretty affordable service in the countries of that list even if you do not reside there. That carrier is really popular among tourists and business people for its universality. Another carrier is Telia Sonera and this is an international carrier too.






I may tell that if you need fast, reliable and affordable mobile internet in Sweden you will probably like Telenor. They have managed to create strong 2G/3G network all over the southern region of the country and implemented 4G support in the biggest cities. They support 4G LTE standard there which works with 875 MHz frequency. As I’ve already said the coverage is really great, and you can switch to 3G if 4G has a weak signal somewhere.






Telenor Coverage






As you can see from the coverage map the Telenor Company has covered the most populated part of Sweden with a decent 4G service. There are only a couple of regions where 4G is not available and they offer to use 3G mobile internet there. All major cities have 4G service with speeds up to 80 Mbit/s and that is quite impressive, so modern smartphones users will surely use the benefits of 4G network.






The mostly used frequencies for mobile communications in Sweden are 875, 2100, 900/1800 MHz. There are two global navigations systems are in use in Sweden. They are GPS and GLONASS and in the last couple of years Russian GLONASS becomes more and more popular in northern countries, because GLONASS satellites have higher orbits than GPS. That means that they have better reception in Polar Regions and in regions that are close to the pole. You should consider that GPS and GLONASS use different frequencies. GPS works with L1: 1575.42; L2: 1227.60; L5: 1176.45 MHz and GLONASS works with L1: 1602-1615; L2: 1246-1256 MHz so if you will need a tracking gadgets jammer in Sweden, you should choose the GPS/GLONASS signal blocker.






All the GSM jamming devices, which support European frequencies 900/1800 MHz, will work there. Standard 3G and 4G zapping devices will be also compatible with Swedish mobile internet networks.

The quality and the area of cell phone service have increased greatly in past couple of years in Mexico. Cell phone service was really expensive but now its price is lowering and it becomes more and more available for users. The development of wireless communications in Mexico is going really fast because of the geographical conditions of the country. Huge chain of mountains that divide country in two parts slowed the development of wired networks down.






What about frequencies that are used in Mexico for wireless communications I can tell you that they are: 850/1900 MHz for GSM service, the same as USA and Canada use, 450/800 MHz for CDMA technology and 850 MHz for third generation communication. But the main and the mostly used standard in Mexico is GSM, the coverage is pretty wide and the quality of service is ok.






If you live in USA or Canada your cell phone will probably work in Mexico, but their roaming fees are just enormous, so it would be better to buy a SIM card of a local provider.






TelCel GSM Coverage





Mexico has three main mobile service carriers. They are TelCel, Movistar and Iusacell. The major provider is TelCell because it has superior coverage and its share of a market compiles up to 77,2%. TelCel covers nearly 63% of Mexico’s geographical area, where 90% of Mexican population live. Coverage of Movistar and Iusacell are situated at the same spots where TelCel’s coverage is, but their area is really smaller.






That country also has a fast growing 3G market. The majority in 3G service is held by Iusacell that provides access with CDMA2000 network, while TelCel uses slower 850 Mhz band connections which is based on UMTS/HSDPA technology. Also TelCel is about to launch a 4G network in Mexico’s major cities. The 3G coverage though is not really thick and you may see it at the following image.






TelCel 3G Coverage





Now let’s take a closer look to those major service carriers and the standards they use for telecommunication. We will begin with the leader of the market TelCel. First if all you should know that that company suffered some fees and restrictions due to its monopolistic state. TelCel provides great 2G coverage all over Mexico, which is represented with GSM 850/1900 MHz standard. It provides voice calls, text messaging and with GPRS and EDGE – slow mobile internet. TelCel also developed 3G network based on CDMA Rev: 1x EV-DO with 850 MHz frequency. The 4G LTE is about to be launched.






Iusacell also provide 2G network with voice calls and text messages on CDMA and GSM standard. 450/850 MHz and 850/1900 MHz frequencies are used accordingly. They also managed to build even greater 3G network than TelCel but their coverage is really small. They use CDMA2000 with 2000 MHz frequency for 3G internet.






Movistar provides 2G communications with GSM 850/1900 MHz standard but their coverage is presented only in major cities and that is the reason of its small size.






Mexico uses a little obsolete technology right now that is why the development of 4G networks will be pretty slow there. But if you go to Mexico you can be sure that our GSM, CDMA and 3G jamming devices will work there perfectly as they always do!