While T-Mobile and Cingular use that standard, Verizon and Sprint operate on the CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) standard, which is popular in North America but not supported everywhere else.

CNN: Navigating cell phone headaches overseas

He said Dell's customers are telling the company they prefer the idea of mobile Internet access via wireless notebook computers, using technology such as the Bluetooth and 802.11 standards as well as emerging wireless telecommunications technology such as GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), wideband CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) and UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System).

CNN: Dell: PCs, servers, storage to remain growth areas

But Samsung Electronics, an affiliate of the Samsung chaebol, did have one thing going for it: The firm was totally committed to the up-and-coming phone standard of the time, known as CDMA technology (or code division multiple access), adopted by Sprint.

FORBES: Look out, Sony

Samsung has combined a full-color Palm operating system device with a code division multiple access (CDMA) phone.

FORBES: Ten O'Clock Tech: More PDA Phones

Verizon, by contrast, uses a different standard, known as code-division multiple access (CDMA).

FORBES: Apple Hiring iPhone Engineers Who Can Work With Verizon's Network

It signed a deal earlier this year to source phones from an undisclosed Asian contractor that will work with the carrier's chosen technology, code-division multiple access (CDMA).

FORBES: On The Cover/Top Stories

In the widely used cellular protocol known as code division multiple access, or CDMA, data are chopped up into dozens of small, duplicate data packets and blasted out over a range of frequencies.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Sprint uses code division multiple access technology, or CDMA, in its cellular networks, while Nextel uses Motorola 's (nyse: MOT - news - people ) iDEN hardware.

FORBES: Sprint Nextel, No. 3 With A Bullet