AAAksherly... whilst it is true that O2 (nee Cellnet) and Vodafone are the
original 900 MHz operators and T-Mobile (nee One2One or whatever the
spelling was) and Orange started life on a then completely different 1800
MHz network, I have it on good authority that O2 and Vodafone utilise 1800
MHz transmitters to fill in the reception gaps.

My early car phone (as in 'screwed to the car') worked on 900 MHz only. My
first digital (and portable) phone (Nokia!) worked on 900 MHz only. The
first Nokia that worked in North America on this awkwardly different
frequency (1900 MHz) was only dual-band: 900 and 1900 MHz, manually
switchable. It was Motorola that came out with the first popular phone that
switched automatically and then Nokia came out with a tri-band
900/1800/1900. The 6310i is an iconic example. I have still have one (fits
into my car cradle) and so do many other people.

It might be that Orange and T-Mobile (& anybody piggy-backing off them like
Virgin and Tesco mobile) still only have 1800 MHz transmitters but it would
surprise me slightly.

AFAIK all phones sold in the UK (all Europe?) are at least dual-band
900/1800. All digital, of course. As somebody else observed, analogue has
been switched off here.

Still, a 1998 phone could still be subject to some compatibility problems.

I hope it works for you. You might also have to do a software update. An
old phone can't necessarily handle a modern SIM card.

The reason the phone shows "Cellnet" in receipt of the O2 signal is that is
how it is 'hard-programmed'. Dunno what would happen with a Vodafone
signal. Probably will show "Vodafone" since the company hasn't changed its
name since 1998.

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
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"Dan Buchan" <danbuchan (AT) email (DOT) com> wrote

[...]

R. Mark Clayton wrote:
Vodafone works! Thanks.