The two most widely used networks in the world are Global System for Mobile Communications network and Code Division Multiple Access. Most cellphones are designed to work exclusively with one network or the other. Most countries outside of the United States use GSM. Verison uses CDMA. While CDMA networks exist abroad, they're present in fewer locations than GSM. Thus, Verizon 4G phones won't work literally all over the world, but they will work in certain countries.
Phones
While Verizon offers some global phones designed to work with both GSM and CDMA networks, none of these are part of the company's 4G lineup as of July 2011. Verizon offers three 4G phones. These are the LG Revolution, the HTC Thunderbolt and the Samsung Droid Charge. All of these are CDMA only and won't work on any GSM network regardless of location.
Locations
According to Verizon, there are 43 countries outside the United States where any of its CDMA phones, including its 4G models, can successfully place calls. Of these, only 28 support the data exchange technologies that allow the phones to connect to the Internet over 4G or 3G networks. The 3G networks are accessible to 4G phones when 4G networks are unavailable. A partial list of countries that allow both voice and data exchange includes Canada, Mexico, China, India, Israel, Jamaica and South Korea. For a complete list, visit verizonwireless.com. Point to "Plans" and click "International Services" from the drop-down menu. Click "CDMA" under "Countries by Technology."
Cost
Verizon charges you a roaming rate to place voice calls abroad. This is because the company doesn't actually have its own network outside the United States and must "borrow" service from the existing networks in other regions. These rates range from $0.69 per minute to $2.89 per minute depending on the country, as of July 2011. Text messaging is $0.50 to send a message and $0.05 to receive a message unless you're in Canada, U.S. Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico. In these regions, Verizon charges you the same amount for text messaging as it does on your domestic plan. Data requires you to sign up for a global data plan. Rates for these plans range from $30 to $100 depending on the country and the amount of data allowed.
Considerations
Different carriers have different definitions of what constitutes a 4G network. Verizon calls its Long Term Evolution network 4G. According to "PC Magazine," this network operates at an average speed of 9.46 megabits per second and a maximum of 37.66Mbps. Compare this to an average 3G speed of 0.7Mbps and a maximum of 2.49Mbps. When traveling abroad, Verizon's LTE phones will rarely have access to LTE networks. This is because most countries don't have LTE networks at all, let alone those that use the frequency bands compatible with Verizon's 4G phones. Thus, in locations abroad where network access is available, it will usually be at 3G speeds.
Tags: outside United, outside United States, United States, average speed, CDMA networks, countries outside, countries outside United