cellular in Japan

Hello,

A friend will be traveling south of Osaka in Japan soon.
She in a California Verizon customer with a Samsung phone.
What are her options in Japan?
Is renting a cell phone at the Osaka airport and returning it in two weeks a
good idea?

Thank you for your help.

In article <KC2Qj.3110$26.2257@newssvr23.news.prodigy.net>,
Harold Heringhi <harold_heringhi@msn.com> wrote:
>Hello,
>
>A friend will be traveling south of Osaka in Japan soon.
>She in a California Verizon customer with a Samsung phone.
>What are her options in Japan?
>Is renting a cell phone at the Osaka airport and returning it in two weeks a
>good idea?
>
>Thank you for your help.

Because of the need for a compatible 3G handset, and the lack of cheap
prepaid foreigner-friendly cellular providers in Japan, it's probably one
of the very few places where renting makes economic (and logistical) sense.

"Harold Heringhi" <harold_heringhi@msn.com> wrote:

> Hello,
>
> A friend will be traveling south of Osaka in Japan soon.
> She in a California Verizon customer with a Samsung phone.
> What are her options in Japan?
> Is renting a cell phone at the Osaka airport and returning it in
> two weeks a good idea?

Yes, that's probably a good option and one guaranteed to work however
there may be other options as well. She might contact Verizon and ask
them if they have any recommendations, you might Google around and see
what you find and, last but not least, she might:

1. Ask any contact(s) she might have in Japan

2. Ask her travel contacts such as travel agency, airline, etc.

3. If this is work related maybe her employer has some ideas.


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"Harold Heringhi" <harold_heringhi@msn.com> wrote:

> Hello,
>
> A friend will be traveling south of Osaka in Japan soon.
> She in a California Verizon customer with a Samsung phone.
> What are her options in Japan?
> Is renting a cell phone at the Osaka airport and returning it in
> two weeks a good idea?

Yes, that's probably a good option and one guaranteed to work however
there may be other options as well. She might contact Verizon and ask
them if they have any recommendations, you might Google around and see
what you find and, last but not least, she might:

1. Ask any contact(s) she might have in Japan

2. Ask her travel contacts such as travel agency, airline, etc.

3. If this is work related, ask if her employer has some ideas.


--
XS11E, Killing all posts from Google Groups
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http://improve-usenet.org

"Harold Heringhi" <harold_heringhi@msn.com> wrote:

> Hello,
>
> A friend will be traveling south of Osaka in Japan soon.
> She in a California Verizon customer with a Samsung phone.
> What are her options in Japan?
> Is renting a cell phone at the Osaka airport and returning it in
> two weeks a good idea?

Yes, that's probably a good option and one guaranteed to work however
there may be other options as well, possibly less expensive ones.

She might contact Verizon and ask them if they have any
recommendations, you might Google around and see what you find and,
last but not least, she might:

1. Ask any contact(s) she might have in Japan

2. Ask her travel contacts such as travel agency, airline, etc.

3. If this is work related, ask if her employer has some ideas.


--
XS11E, Killing all posts from Google Groups
The Usenet Improvement Project:
http://improve-usenet.org

"Harold Heringhi" <harold_heringhi@msn.com> wrote:

> A friend will be traveling south of Osaka in Japan soon.
> She in a California Verizon customer with a Samsung phone.
> What are her options in Japan?
> Is renting a cell phone at the Osaka airport and returning it in
> two weeks a good idea?

Yes, that's a good option and the most convenient one however
renting at the airport might be higher than renting elsewhere, she
might Google around before leaving.

More information:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2223.html
http://euc.jp/misc/cellphones.en.html


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"Harold Heringhi" <harold_heringhi@msn.com> wrote:

> A friend will be traveling south of Osaka in Japan soon.
> She in a California Verizon customer with a Samsung phone.
> What are her options in Japan?
> Is renting a cell phone at the Osaka airport and returning it in
> two weeks a good idea?

Yes, that may be the only option.

More information:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2223.html
http://euc.jp/misc/cellphones.en.html


--
XS11E, Killing all posts from Google Groups
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"Harold Heringhi" <harold_heringhi@msn.com> wrote:

> A friend will be traveling south of Osaka in Japan soon.
> She in a California Verizon customer with a Samsung phone.
> What are her options in Japan?
> Is renting a cell phone at the Osaka airport and returning it in
> two weeks a good idea?

Yes, that may be the only option.

More information:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2223.html
http://euc.jp/misc/cellphones.en.html


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"Harold Heringhi" <harold_heringhi@msn.com> wrote:

> A friend will be traveling south of Osaka in Japan soon.
> She in a California Verizon customer with a Samsung phone.
> What are her options in Japan?
> Is renting a cell phone at the Osaka airport and returning it in
> two weeks a good idea?

Yes, that may be the only option.

More information:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2223.html
http://euc.jp/misc/cellphones.en.html


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I tried to post through Motzarella and it failed repeatedly, didn't
know it was actually going through, sorry about that.




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On 2008-04-24, Harold Heringhi <harold_heringhi@msn.com> wrote:
> A friend will be traveling south of Osaka in Japan soon.
> She in a California Verizon customer with a Samsung phone.
> What are her options in Japan?
> Is renting a cell phone at the Osaka airport and returning it in two weeks a
> good idea?

That's often the best option for Japan if she has no one there
who can loan her a phone, but it isn't cheap. I've looked at renting
a Softbank SIM, web page here

http://www.softbank-rental.jp/en/

and, while incoming calls are free with the rental SIM, outgoing
calls even to numbers in Japan are almost $1/minute with calls
to the US at nearly $2/minute.

I have a Celtrek SIM, from

http://www.celtrek.com

which roams in Japan at prices which aren't so bad if most of the
calls are to or from the US (the SIM has a US number, incoming calls
in Japan are 24 cents/minute and calls to the US 34 cents/minute), but
this still leaves the problem of the phone. In Japan you need a
3G UMTS phone which supports the European 3G band, and these are
nearly unavailable in the US. Softbank will rent you a phone to put
the SIM in, but 2 weeks at $9/day adds up to more than I paid for
my first 3G phone in Hong Kong.

If she does decide to rent the Japan phone service she might take
a look at Rebtel, here

http://www.rebtel.com

for making and receiving calls from home. She can call US contacts by
dialing Japan landline numbers ($1/minute rather than $2) and then get
them to call her back on the US number the call appears to them to come
from. The incoming call will be free of charge on the Japan phone, and
Rebtel's charge of 15 cents per minute for the call isn't bad.

Dennis Ferguson

On Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:41:01 -0700, XS11E
<xs11e@mailinator.com> wrote:

>
>I tried to post through Motzarella and it failed repeatedly, didn't
>know it was actually going through, sorry about that.

That's what happens when you use cheese for your browser. .
.. .

music53OUTOUT@earthlink.net wrote:

> On Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:41:01 -0700, XS11E
> <xs11e@mailinator.com> wrote:
>
>>
>>I tried to post through Motzarella and it failed repeatedly, didn't
>>know it was actually going through, sorry about that.
>
> That's what happens when you use cheese for your browser. .

But it's good on pizza.....


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There are quite a few options.

People have mentioned:
. renting a phone in Japan
. renting a Japanese USIM card in Japan and using it in an unlocked 3G
phone that supports the 2100 band (European 3G phones do this, most
US 3G phones do not).

You can also roam with your Verizon service in Japan if you have Global
roaming service (meaning that you have a Verizon SIM card for global
roaming on GSM networks; most Verizon customers do not). Once again, you
need an unlocked 3G phone that supports the 2100 band. Calls cost
$2.49/minute; incoming SMS is $0.05/message.

This may be a good choice if you don't intend to use your phone much
and/or want to be able to receive an emergency call. However, at
$2.49/minute call costs quickly add up.

It is no longer possible for non-resident foreigners to get prepay
accounts or to sign a contract for a new monthly account from the
companies in Japan. Doing either requires domestic Japanese
identification which for a foreigner would be a passport plus a resident
foreigner's alien registration card (tourist cards aren't good enough).

Of course, nothing stops you from having a friend in Japan get a phone and
service for you. Of course, if any question comes up about your use, your
friend is in trouble. Anyway, if you have a friend who trusts you enough
to register the phone in his/her name, prepay service is far cheaper than
renting.

Yet another choice is to rent from Verizon in the US. Verizon will rent
Japanese 2G (not 3G) phones, albeit at a higher price for rental and usage
than the Japanese rental companies charge.

Yet another choice is to buy a Japanese 2G phone plus monthly service in
Japan from Verizon. Once again, this is 2G, not 3G, and is quite a bit
more expensive than the same service in Japan. But it is available.

Technically, Japanese law just requires verifiable ID and traceable
financial ties. So a valid foreign passport and a credit card are legally
good enough (that is how Verizon and the rental companies in Japan can
provide service). Unfortunately, the mobile phone companies in Japan
don't want to be bothered, hence the "no non-resident foreigners" rule
for prepays...

For just two weeks, I would advise renting.

-- Mark --

http://staff.washington.edu/mrc
Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate.
Si vis pacem, para bellum.

Harold Heringhi wrote:
> Hello,
>
> A friend will be traveling south of Osaka in Japan soon.
> She in a California Verizon customer with a Samsung phone.
> What are her options in Japan?
> Is renting a cell phone at the Osaka airport and returning it in two weeks a
> good idea?
>
> Thank you for your help.
>
>
I was traveling in Japan in August and September. Verizon's
rates to switch my phone for one that would work in Japan
were outrageous.

I ended up renting from
http://www.rentafonejapan.com. They were very reliable,
the phone worked fine except for the occasional time when I
received an error message and it was in Japanese :-). You
can pick it up at the airport, you can have it delivered
directly to your hotel, or, for a reasonable charge, they
will send it to your home in the States a few days before
your departure time. Then you have it as soon as you land
in Japan. It was the option I chose and it worked beautifully.

There is a return postal envelope and you just put the phone
in the mailbox in Japan before you leave. They figure out
the minutes used and bill accordingly. It was an extremely
smoothe operation and the phone worked fine.

Louise