3G SIM card rental / data plan

lxny · (#1 (**permalink**))

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

MMM · (#2 (**permalink**))

Quote:

Originally Posted by lxny

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.

lxny · (#3 (**permalink**))

Hi MMM,

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

LXNY

MMM · (#4 (**permalink**))

Quote:

Originally Posted by lxny

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.

lxny · (#5 (**permalink**))

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

MMM · (#6 (**permalink**))

Quote:

Originally Posted by lxny

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.

godwine · (#7 (**permalink**))

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.

spicytuna · (#8 (**permalink**))

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.

akabusi · (#9 (**permalink**))

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

akabusi · (#10 (**permalink**))

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.