Hybrid phones could also have an impact on cell phone company mergers, which would no longer be limited by the kind of standards considerations that came into play in the proposed merger of AT&T Wireless and Cingular Wireless--both GSM carriers. The phones could also put a new twist on roaming agreements--the terms carriers reach with competitors so that subscribers can make or receive calls in each other's markets. With the broad adoption of CDMA/GSM phones, a GSM carrier would be free to consider deals with CDMA networks, bringing new competition to the market.

Not everyone agrees that dual-mode phones are a harbinger of major industry changes, however, Executives at European carrier Orange and at T-Mobile USA said the wireless industry has coalesced around domestic iphone 6/6s gold karat case and regional markets, offering few opportunities for synergies on a big international scale implied by melding GSM and CDMA, "I just can't see a lot of carriers selling these phones," said Steve Glagow, director of group business development and partnerships at Orange, Glagow believes that the phones will only appeal to corporate jetsetters such Bernie Larson, a San Francisco-based construction site manager who works for months at a time overseas in countries dominated by the GSM standard and where his Sprint CMDA standard phone doesn't work..

"My company would love to see me use one of those phones," Larson said. "They're tired of me having two different cell phones, two different providers and two different bills.". Unleashing an Asian powerhouse?Skeptics aside, at least one carrier appears to be placing a big bet on the hybrid network. China Unicom has said that it's picking up on mixed standards because it wants the best of both worlds: the faster wireless data of CDMA and GSM's omnipresent voice coverage. Multi-system handsets are a great step forward to serve us 'road-warriors' across continents. However, the other side of the equation is signaling: roaming between CDMA and GSM also requires signal conversion, clearing, billing. Help is available: inter-standard roaming houses offer these services, and in some cases also issue SIM cards, allowing us to make and receive calls to our original mobile number while we roam. --Antti Linden.

The company officially unveiled the first of its Worldwind dual-mode mobile phones at a launch ceremony on Aug, 5, Devices presented at the event included the Motorola A860, Samsung's SCH-W109 and LG's W800, The company, which announced at the time that it is buying 500,000 iphone 6/6s gold karat case hybrid handsets, plans to use those phones to woo businesses in CDMA countries with ties to China, where carriers have made GSM the dominant standard, China Unicom has already invited various Latin American and U.S, operators and handset vendors to Beijing to discuss forming an alliance for CDMA handset purchases..

"We have resolved to be a first-class global enterprise--our ultimate goal with our international strategy is to leverage our CDMA technology worldwide," Wang Jiangzhou, China Unicom's chief executive, said in a statement accompanying the phone announcement. He added that sales of hybrid handsets are outpacing supply. "We're facing a shortage of Worldwind phones. It's been selling so well that we don't have enough stock to meet customers' demands," he said. Healing wounds overseas?Signs of how dual-mode phones might play into mergers and partnerships between CDMA and GSM carriers can be glimpsed in recent efforts from Verizon Wireless to market a hybrid phone.