The BlackBerry Storm was available through
Vodafone in the UK, Germany, France (
SFR), Italy, Ireland, Australia, South Africa (
Vodacom), The Netherlands and India;
Verizon Wireless in the United States;
Telus,
Bell, and
SaskTel in Canada, on Iusacell in Mexico, and on
LIME and
Digicel in parts the Caribbean. The BlackBerry Storm 9530 was an international communication device featuring
CDMA technology with EV-DO Rev. A data support, as well as
UMTS with
HSDPA and quad-band
GSM with
EDGE data access speeds. In contrast, the BlackBerry Storm 9500 lacks the CDMA module and is designed for use outside of North America. However, it only supports UMTS and HSDPA frequency bands for Europe, Oceania, Asia, and Brazil. This means that if the BlackBerry Storm is used with GSM wireless carriers in North America—such as
AT&T,
T-Mobile,
Rogers, and
Fido—it will only be able to access wireless internet at a maximum speed of EDGE. This limitation arises because GSM carriers in North America operate on different frequency bands for 3G than those used in the rest of the world. When used in Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, or Brazil, the BlackBerry Storm can achieve HSDPA wireless data speeds, provided that the local GSM network supports it. Domestically in the US, the phone will utilize the primary network technology of its intended carrier (Verizon) and will rely on the GSM/UMTS/HSDPA networks of Vodafone when traveling abroad. Currently, there are no unlocked or unbranded versions of the GSM BlackBerry Storm available; however, unlocking the phone will allow it to be used with any GSM service provider. ==Hardware==