If I buy the new Porsche P'9521 phone overseas, can I take it to a Verizon Store and have it made into a Veriz

Question

If not, what network will I be able to with? Or, when will the P'9521 be released in North America?

Answer 1

No you can't use it with Verizon. Verizon, Sprint, and AllTel use a type of cellular technology called CDMA. Most phones made internationally use the GSM standard, because CDMA is not used much outside of the United States, South Korea, and Canada. There may be other countries that use CDMA, but generally CDMA use is not as common as GSM.

So what networks use GSM? T-Mobile and Cingular ("the new AT&T"). The good news is that getting service for your GSM phone is real easy. All you do is subscribe to their service and they will send you a GSM SIM card. When you get it in the mail, you detach the SIM card from the larger card and insert it in the SIM port of the Porsche phone (most likely in the back). Bam! You've got service on your Porsche phone.

One thing to make sure is that you do NOT buy a locked Porsche phone. If so, it will only work with the network it is locked into. How do you get a non-locked phone? Don't buy directly from the international cellular network, but rather a store or online. If you're unsure, ask the seller to make sure it is unlocked.

Edit:
Verizon does have phones that support SIM cards. However, those SIM cards and those phones are meant for international support only and will not work in North America.

Answer 2

Most of the cell phone carriers operate on GSM or CDMA network. Verizon Wireless and Sprint operate on CDMA network while Cingular, T-Mobile and Nextel operate on GSM network. With GSM network all cell phones require a sim card on the back of the cell phone while CDMA network does not use any sim card.

The Porsche P'9521 is indeed a GSM network phone. So since Verizon Wireless uses CDMA network, you can not use this phone at all on Verizon Wireless. The closest network that would be compatible for usage would be Cingular (A T&T). However because this phone is only available in Germany and not here in the United States it is locked for its own network brand over there.

You will need to purchase this phone as a "unlocked GSM phone" then you will be able to use this phone here in the United States and buy a sim card from Cingular. Check ebay website for this unlock GSM phone.

Answer 3

Hard to tell, because details about the phone are scarce. Just remember that it's expected to retail at $1600!

The most important question is if it will run on a CDMA wirelesss network (Verizon/Sprint), or will it be GSM (AT&T)?

http://www.dpinsight.com/phone/news/p9521-mobile-phone-from-sagem-and-porsche.html
http://www.intomobile.com/2007/06/20/porsche-p9521-mobile-phone-will-cost-1600.html