What is a “quad-band” cellular phone?
Quad band literally means four (4) bands. Most people come across the term when it is used to describe a GSM mobile phone. The GSM standard originated in Europe, where mobile phones occupy two frequency bands: one in the 900-MHz range and one in the 1800-MHz range. When GSM technology crossed the Atlantic to the Americas, it was impossible to reuse the same European frequency bands since those had already been allocated to other devices by the FCC. Hence, a different pair of frequency bands were made available for GSM use: the 850 and 1900-MHz bands.
