GSM frequency bands
mobile telephony network band
GSM frequency bands or frequency ranges are the cellular frequencies designated by the ITU for the operation of GSM mobile phones and other mobile devices.
Frequency bands
GSM frequency usage around the world
A dual-band 900/1800 device is required to be compatible with most networks apart from deployments in ITU Region 2.
GSM-900, EGSM/EGSM-900 and GSM-1800
GSM-900 and GSM-1800 are used in most parts of the world (ITU-Regions 1 and 3): Africa, Europe, Middle East, Asia (apart from Japan and South Korea where GSM has never been introduced) and Oceania.
In common, GSM-900 is most widely used. Fewer operators use GSM-1800. Mobile Communication Services on Aircraft (MCA) uses GSM-1800.
In some countries, GSM-1800 is also referred to as "Digital Cellular System" (DCS).
GSM-850 and GSM-1900
GSM-1900 and GSM-850 are used in most of North, South and Central America (ITU-Region 2).
In North America, GSM operates on the primary mobile communication bands 850 MHz and 1900 MHz. In Canada, GSM-1900 is the primary band used in urban areas with 850 as a backup, and GSM-850 being the primary rural band.
“GSM frequency bands” enters the record as mobile telephony network band. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what frequency, bands and mobile can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 20, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q4348743. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1800 and 1900.
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This entry incorporates text from “GSM frequency bands” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.