Unlock Razr as a world phone?

[WilburNJ]

I'm new to the Razr, and Android in general, so I'm not certain what rooting does (beyond the idea of getting more control over the device and getting rid of pre-installed apps, for example). But, in searching this forum and others, it seems like the GSM capabilities of the Razr is not presently "unlocked" by Verizon. Would rooting my phone allow me to replace my sim card in London for a prepaid sim card and use the phone for voice and data while there on another carrier?

Previously, I was using an iphone on AT&T so I would just turn on roaming and pay the carrier's exorbitant prices for roaming voice and data -- and monitor every minute and KB of data usage!!

Thanks in advance for any education anyone here can provide.

Will









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[fatboy97]

Re: Does rooting unlock Razr as a world phone?

The RAZR is NOT a world phone... it only has CDMA frequencies and NO GSM frequencies.

 

[WilburNJ]

The RAZR is NOT a world phone... it only has CDMA frequencies and NO GSM frequencies.

Looking around the internet, it seem that the Razr does have a GSM radio built in, but VZW just chooses to not unlock it.

Separately, I saw a quote attributed to a VZW employee in which she said that the carrier is tweaking its network to allow the Droid 4 and another LTE device from LG to be world phones in the near future. I've read that the Droid 4's innards are basically the same as the Razr.

So, I hope all this info suggests that the Razr may one day be unlocked to be a world phone. But who knows if anything one reads on the Internet, even on apparently legitimate blogs, is true....



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[WilburNJ]

Re: Does rooting unlock Razr as a world phone?

By the way, Motorola's web site shows the Razr as having GSM capabilities:

The New MOTOROLA RAZR - Android Smartphone - Ultra-Thin - Kevlar Strong - SPECS - Motorola Mobility, Inc. Rest of Europe

Although their website also states in an FAQ that the Razr is not a world phone.

Anyway, I hope it's a VZW network issue that eventually gets addressed so that I can use my phone while I'm abroad.

 

[fatboy97]

Re: Does rooting unlock Razr as a world phone?

And the US Version of Motorola's website has NO GSM frequencies.

The New DROID RAZR - Android Smartphone - Ultra-Thin - KEVLAR Strong - SPECS - Motorola Mobility, Inc. USA

Which is what I was going by... are you saying you have the European version of this device??? The European version does not have CDMA frequencies.

 

[WilburNJ]

And the US Version of Motorola's website has NO GSM frequencies.

The New DROID RAZR - Android Smartphone - Ultra-Thin - KEVLAR Strong - SPECS - Motorola Mobility, Inc. USA

Which is what I was going by... are you saying you have the European version of this device??? The European version does not have CDMA frequencies.

No, unfortunately I have the US version. But I was hoping that moto makes the same phone worldwide and each carrier implements the radio it uses -- sort of like the iphone: att uses GSM and VZW uses CDMA. Hence my hope that VZW will let a razr user to unlock the GSM radio in the future (or some workaround by inventive individuals is devized).



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[fatboy97]

Re: Does rooting unlock Razr as a world phone?

No, unfortunately I have the US version. But I was hoping that moto makes the same phone worldwide and each carrier implements the radio it uses -- sort of like the iphone: att uses GSM and VZW uses CDMA. Hence my hope that VZW will let a razr user to unlock the GSM radio in the future (or some workaround by inventive individuals is devized).



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Honestly I don't think there is enough room inside the RAZR to put both GSM and CDMA hardware, and considering LTE in the past required a lot more room and that Motorola was able to put LTE into such a slim device is surprising. Many manufacturers only put in the equipment they need... but here is to hoping!!!

 

[androidatic]

It would be great to have a world standard some day so that we could buy any phone and activate it on any carriers network.

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[ragnarokx]

Re: Does rooting unlock Razr as a world phone?

It would be great to have a world standard some day so that we could buy any phone and activate it on any carriers network.

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That world standard already exists - it's called Global System for Mobile Communications, or GSM

By using CDMA, the U.S. is the exception to the rule - although with LTE being GSM we've at least started to head in the right direction.

 

[androidatic]

That world standard already exists - it's called Global System for Mobile Communications, or GSM

By using CDMA, the U.S. is the exception to the rule - although with LTE being GSM we've at least started to head in the right direction.

True, being in the states I forgot about that. Hell, we can even use VZW LTE phones on AT& T's LTE network.

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