Can a virgin mobile iPhone 4s work on T Mobile?

[Kaido]

Can an unlocked iPhone 4s from Virgin Mobile work on T-Mobile's network? Pretty sure the answer is no, but a family member has been bugging me. A detailed explanation would be nice.

 

[RumoredNow]

No. Virgin Mobile US operates on CDMA & T Mobile is GSM. It is two very different radios and comm protocols.

Virgin CDMA piggybacks on Sprint cell towers and Virgin phones need no SIM card. You have to have a SIM to run on T Mobile.

 

[haphenomenon]

That's wrong, while Virgin is a Sprint subsidiary and thus CDMA, and Tmobile is GSM, all iPhone 4s phones have both CDMA and GSM radios in them. This wasn't the case for the iPhone 4, but is with the 4s. Getting the carrier to unlock it to use it on another carrier can be hard though.

 

[kg4icg]

That's wrong, while Virgin is a Sprint subsidiary and thus CDMA, and Tmobile is GSM, all iPhone 4s phones have both CDMA and GSM radios in them. This wasn't the case for the iPhone 4, but is with the 4s. Getting the carrier to unlock it to use it on another carrier can be hard though.

But the problem is, virgin's 4s will only get edge on tmobile, which defeats the purpose of putting it on there doesn't it.