Volcomskatz, it's nice to see someone so interested in the wireless industry. I understand you're learning a lot, and I appreciate that you're passionate about the Sidekick. Keep up the learning, there's a lot of stuff out there to know.
The 850mhz band is not some special band that magically makes the cell phone reception on a Sidekick better. The 850mhz spectrum just happens to be lower in frequency to the more common 1800 or 1900 mhz bands. The lower the frequency, generally, the wider the coverage one tower can cast, but at the same time, you cannot serve as many simultaneous calls. This is great for rural areas, yes, but using the same frequency in the city will kill ya.
However, here's the funny thing -- CDMA also has the 850mhz spectrum. So, geez, huh, my Sprint phone should work just as well as a Sidekick, AS LONG AS THE ROAMING AGREEMENTS ARE IN PLACE. Sprint has roaming agreements with many providers like Verizon, US Cellular, ALLTEL, etc. I believe T-Mobile has agreements with Cingular and a few others. So, because they can use the near-same frequencies, there should be no difference in range or capacity for either, but it's all about the roaming agreements. The radio frequencies aren't that important. What's important is getting what you need when you need it, and for that, the roaming agreements are what will save your kiester.
