Need Help With Cell Phone Question

[Un4given]

OK, I'm the first to admit that I understand very little when it comes to phones and how they are tied to carriers. So here is my question(s).

I have a Verizon branded Motorola Droid Bionic phone. I've completed the two years on the contract, and may get a new phone in the near future. The woman has asked if she can have it when I get a new phone. So can she use this phone with another carrier by switching out the SIM card, or can this phone only be used with a Verizon account?

If the answer is yes, she can use it with another carrier, and since the OS and some of the installed software is Verizon specific, how will that effect the phone's functionality? Will she need to download a new carrier specific OS, and if yes, how will that possibly impact the function(s) of the phone?

Any and all help is appreciated!

[Steve R Jones]

I probably know less than you do....but I believe that you can "root and unlock" the phone to use with other carriers.

I also believe that if you screw up the root and unlock the phone become trash material.

[Vindir]

The way carriers lock you in is through the cell frequencies on the chips they support with their network. Each phone has a chip that can support X number of frequencies. They've come a long way, but most chips are still only dual-band or tri-band. That's why you end up with 4+ versions of any given android that are carrier specific or an "ATT Iphone" and "TMobile Iphone"

What model is the phone? Simple way to find out your supported carriers on any given phone is to look up the make/model of the phone to see what frequencies the phone supports and compare it with the frequencies you can find on the wiki page below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_frequencies

Another pain in the orifice you'll find is CDMA vs GSM support. They don't play nicely together. ATT & TMobile are going to be GSM with most of the other carriers you can name off the top of your head, including Verizon and Sprint, being CDMA.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2407896,00.asp

Assuming she wants to use a CDMA carrier like Sprint or MetroPCS then your only important step is to check the frequencies mentioned above.

G'luck.

[Un4given]

Thanks guys. This is kinda what I was expecting. I really appreciate your info!

[James]

One note: Sprint will support the basic functions of the Droid Bionic assuming you can get it unlocked from Verizon. That being said, the Droid series is a Verizon exclusive series created specifically for their network by Motorola. It is custom tailored for Verizon. It is very likely to omit any frequencies that aren't specifically used by them (Verizon).

It's probably the one remaining line of devices that are only carried by a single carrier in the U.S.

[Un4given]

But of course it is! So much for a free market!