Cellular phones in the USA operate on 1 of 2 possible networks. CDMA or GSM. The CDMA network is more wide spread across USA and is used by carriers such as Sprint and Verizon. GSM is less wide spread and is used by AT&T and T-Mobile. People who own GSM phones have relative freedom of choice when it comes to carrier. A few simple steps and they can switch between them at will.
CDMA phone owners, on the other hand, cannot switch phones between service providers. The providers have a white list of phone ID numbers and wont accept phones from different carriers. I pose that it is unconstitutional for a carrier to deny service based on origin of the device. If it works on, and does not disrupt, their network they should have to allow the owner to use their device on it.



