Deployment in other frequency bands is not precluded.
UMTS-TDD
UMTS-TDD is designed to operate in the following bands:
Frequencies (MHz)
Channel Number (UARFCN)
1900 - 1920
9512 - 9588
2010 - 2025
10062 - 10113
1850 - 1910
9262 - 9538
1930 - 1990
9662 - 9938
1910 - 1930
9562 - 9638
2570 - 2620
12862 - 13088
Frequency bands deployment
Further information: List of UMTS networks
In general, the various UMTS bands are deployed as follows:
Band I (W-CDMA 2100) in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia (all carriers' metropolitan networks), New Zealand (ITU Region 1) and Brazil (part of ITU Region 2)
Band II (W-CDMA 1900) in North America and South America (ITU Region 2)
Band IV (W-CDMA 1700 or Advanced Wireless Services) in the United States (T-Mobile USA) and Canada (WIND Mobile)
Band V (W-CDMA 850) in Australia (Telstra NextG Network), New Zealand (XT Mobile Network), Brazil, Canada, the USA, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Venezuela, other parts of South America, Israel, parts of Asia (ITU Region 2 and ITU Region 3), Poland
Band VIII (W-CDMA 900) in Europe, Asia, Australia (Optus and Vodafone regional/country 3G networks), New Zealand (ITU Region 1 and ITU Region 3), and Venezuela (Corporacin Digitel, C.A.)
Multi-band
Further information: List of HSPA mobile phones, List of UMTS networks
Today, most mobiles support multiple bands as used in different countries to facilitate roaming. These are typically referred to as multi-band phones. Dual-band phones can cover networks in pairs such as 2100/900 (bands I/VIII) in Europe, Middle East, Asia, Oceania or 1900/850MHz (bands II/V) in North and South America. With the recent release of AWS spectrum (band IV) in North America, the dual-band combo of 1700/2100 is also becoming popular there.
European/Asian tri-band phones typically cover the 900, 1800 and 2100MHz bands giving good coverage in Europe and allowing very limited use in North America, while North American tri-band phones utilize 850, 1900 and 2100MHz for widespread North & South American service and good coverage for worldwide use thanks to the popularity of the 2100MHz spectrum, though the AWS cousin of 900/1700/2100 doesn't enjoy the same footprint at home. The I/II/V or 2100/1900/850 combo is as close to a world phone as possible at this time.
Most UMTS phones also operate on GSM as well, supporting EDGE to ensure data coverage where HSPA still lacks coverage. Note however, that while a phone may have overlapping GSM & UMTS frequency support, being tri-band/quad-band in GSM/GPRS/EDGE does not imply the same support for UMTS, as was the case with many early 2100MHz-only UMTS devices.
