3G SIM card rental / data plan
 

Hello,

I'm planning to be in Japan for 10 days, and was looking at renting a SIM card for use with my unlocked U.S. iPhone 3GS.

Softbank could rent a SIM card but the data plans are really expensive. They have a clause states "We cannot rent the 3G SIM card to users of certain handset models or certain smartphones" so I'm not sure I can even obtain one for use with my phone.

This is the ONLY place I can find on the Internets that provides a SIM rental with a data plan (Docomo at $170/week): JCR - Japan SIM rental

Are there other alternatives that may be cheaper?

TIA,
LXNY

This sounds SO sketchy.

Hi MMM,

Which part sounds sketchy? The way Softbank does business or the JCR place?

LXNY

It is easy to rent cell-phones in Japan...it's not what Soft Bank does that sounds sketchy but your description of unlocking a 3G iPhone sounds sketchy.

There are American phones that work in Japan...you need to talk to your provider about their options.

Ahhh, I'm not discussing unlocking of phones... just stating that my phone is not restricted to any one carrier.

Then I do not know. You said "unlocked phone", so that is what I responded to.

I don't see why the softbank sim will not work, as long as its a standard 3G GSM sim it should work. But the thing is, I didn't even know that Japan support GSM now. I was ther ein October, and back then, its still WCDMA all over. I could be wrong, while I am a gadget geek myself, i don't know much about the Japanese market.

I believe the iPhone 3G/3GS is the exact same model whether you buy it in Japan or N.America.

I brought my Rogers iphone 3G to Japan and used it seamlessly via a roaming agreement Rogers had with Softbank. (Mind you, it cost around 100 yen/minute but that's a different story.)

If you get an unlocked 3G, I'd imagine you'd have no problems using it with a rental SIMM from Japan.

With that being said, $235/2 weeks is pretty expensive! At least you can use Skype to call if you have an unlocked phone. :)

Hi lxny

You can rent a SIM for free from the Mobal counter at Narita airport. I am not sure about data on it though, but I do know that they supply Softbank SIM cards.

I will try and do some research and if I find out about their data rates, I will post back here.

K ;)

p.s. their website is here: Japanese Cell Phone Rental from Narita Airport, Tokyo

Just noticed that it looks like I dropped a spammy link. However, I only posted a link to mobalnarita.com, the forum has automatically converted it into 'Japanese Cell Phone Rental from Narita Airport, Tokyo'. Quite weird.:confused:

cellphones
 

1. yes all iphones except a model made especially for mainland china (b/c of crazy govt regs there) are the same around the world. so you could use an unlocked iphone 3g or 3gs (not 2g) in Japan... if u had a sim card.. which is a big if.

2. apple recently removed the no skype calls over 3g data restriction... meaning if u could get a 3g data plan in japan... but not a voice plan.. you could make VOIP calls thru ur iphone in japan using a data network... without a voice plan. also u could do this thru wifi anywhere in japan.

3. i would recommend renting a phone so u dont have to go thru this hassle. of course renting a phone is its own hassle... but this way people can call you directly in japan, and you wont have to worry about any of these other variables like downloading software or using skype or whatever.

4. u may find u dont even need a phone, especially if u dont have to meet japanese friends.... who would you call anyway? japan is a safe place so you dont have to worry about needing the emergency call phone like u would in new york or something. even if u have to meet japanese friends... if u see them alot u can email their phones from gmail and set up meeting points.

..... sorry if these numbers are wierd but like..... i felt like writing like this today and it organizes my thoughts better...

i hope it helped u....

If Japan's infrastructure support 3G or 3Gs GSM, won't other 3G/3Gs phone work? Does it HAVE to be an iPhone?

The phone needs to work on the CDMA 2100 MHz frequency. Phones from Europe/Asia will probably be OK, but phones from the US may work on a different frequency.

If you want to use a Softbank SIM, the handset would need to be unlocked.