Need international service for a couple of weeks

My wife is going to Japan for a couple of weeks and wants to be able to use
her cell phone there. I've heard it's possible to add on international
service in a way where people just call your regular cell number instead of
having to dial international codes - is that correct? Are there any other
"gotchas" to be aware of to make sure this works properly, such as the modes
her phone supports? TIA

Assuming VZW has roaming partners in Japan on CDMA, no problem. (I didn't
check)

You must call VZW and tell them to enable your account for International
dialing/roaming. I think they usually require something like a minimum of 6
months of service history before they will enable it. However, there is no
charge for that.

You will need to check out the Roaming and "extra" charges for calls from/to
Japan though, as you will be paying them.

-Frank

"VicTek" <abc@xyz.com> wrote in message
news:GZ7ph.7603$ji1.1813@newssvr12.news.prodigy.ne t...
> My wife is going to Japan for a couple of weeks and wants to be able to
> use her cell phone there. I've heard it's possible to add on
> international service in a way where people just call your regular cell
> number instead of having to dial international codes - is that correct?
> Are there any other "gotchas" to be aware of to make sure this works
> properly, such as the modes her phone supports? TIA
>

On 2007-01-10, VicTek <abc@xyz.com> wrote:
> My wife is going to Japan for a couple of weeks and wants to be able to use
> her cell phone there. I've heard it's possible to add on international
> service in a way where people just call your regular cell number instead of
> having to dial international codes - is that correct? Are there any other
> "gotchas" to be aware of to make sure this works properly, such as the modes
> her phone supports? TIA

You have two problems: she's going to Japan, and you have Verizon
as your cell phone carrier.

No US mobile phone roams in Japan. In Japan you need either a
(Japanese-only) PDC phone or a European-style 3G phone. Worse,
outside of the relatively small number of countries where there
is a CDMA carrier, Verizon's international rates are quite awful.

Verizon will rent you a PDC phone. I forget what the rental costs, it
is on their web site. The phone will, however, have a Japanese
phone number; if you want to keep the US number working you'll need
to forward it to the Japanese number at Verizon's quite terrible
overseas long distance rates. And while incoming calls to the
phone are likely free, outgoing calls from the phone are expensive
at something like $2.50 per minute.

Then again, if she really needs a phone this is an option. I seldom
go to Japan so I don't know what it is like to buy service once you
get there. The last time I went I had a borrowed Hong Kong 3G
phone which worked for the day.

Dennis Ferguson

"Dennis Ferguson" <dcferguson@pacbell.net> wrote in message
news:slrneqa9fr.83.dcferguson@akit-ferguson.com...
> On 2007-01-10, VicTek <abc@xyz.com> wrote:
>> My wife is going to Japan for a couple of weeks and wants to be able to
>> use
>> her cell phone there. I've heard it's possible to add on international
>> service in a way where people just call your regular cell number instead
>> of
>> having to dial international codes - is that correct? Are there any
>> other
>> "gotchas" to be aware of to make sure this works properly, such as the
>> modes
>> her phone supports? TIA
>
> You have two problems: she's going to Japan, and you have Verizon
> as your cell phone carrier.
>
> No US mobile phone roams in Japan. In Japan you need either a
> (Japanese-only) PDC phone or a European-style 3G phone. Worse,
> outside of the relatively small number of countries where there
> is a CDMA carrier, Verizon's international rates are quite awful.
>
> Verizon will rent you a PDC phone. I forget what the rental costs, it
> is on their web site. The phone will, however, have a Japanese
> phone number; if you want to keep the US number working you'll need
> to forward it to the Japanese number at Verizon's quite terrible
> overseas long distance rates. And while incoming calls to the
> phone are likely free, outgoing calls from the phone are expensive
> at something like $2.50 per minute.
>
> Then again, if she really needs a phone this is an option. I seldom
> go to Japan so I don't know what it is like to buy service once you
> get there. The last time I went I had a borrowed Hong Kong 3G
> phone which worked for the day.
>
> Dennis Ferguson
>
Wow, none of that sounds very good. I wonder if it would be more affordable
to buy a "pay as you go" phone in Japan with just enough minutes for the
trip? Do they offer that kind of option?

VicTek wrote:

>>
> Wow, none of that sounds very good. I wonder if it would be more affordable
> to buy a "pay as you go" phone in Japan with just enough minutes for the
> trip? Do they offer that kind of option?
>
>

There are kiosks at Narita and places like this that will deliver to
your hotel:

http://www.rentafonejapan.com/

For a couple of weeks it would be cheaper to just buy a prepaid keitai
at a convenience store and an air time card to add time.

VicTek wrote:
> My wife is going to Japan for a couple of weeks and wants to be able to use
> her cell phone there. I've heard it's possible to add on international
> service in a way where people just call your regular cell number instead of
> having to dial international codes - is that correct? Are there any other
> "gotchas" to be aware of to make sure this works properly, such as the modes
> her phone supports? TIA

Well she could buy a Sanyo A5514SA when she gets there. It's a Japanese
phone designed for international use. This phone will apparently work on
Verizon when she gets back, if she keeps the account in Japan (at ¥120
per minute. It's about ¥5000.

Too bad Verizon doesn't support this phone. It'd be a unique service to
be able to offer a U.S. phone that works in Japan.

"Frankster" <Frank@spam2trash.com> wrote in
news:M7SdnQSnDMr0gTjYnZ2dnUVZ_h-vnZ2d@giganews.com:

> You will need to check out the Roaming and "extra" charges for calls
> from/to Japan though, as you will be paying them.
>
>

Country Japan

Country Code 81

Standard Int'l
Dialing Per
Minutes Rates* $1.49/min ($89.40/hour)

Int'l LD Value
Plan Per
Minute Rates** $0.20

FROM Japan to US will be at the mercy of the Japanese carrier:

"When roaming, the serving carrier's rates, taxes and surcharges apply.
Rates are subject to change without notice."

--------------------------- or ---------------------------------------

Skype
US to/from Japan
Skype-to-Skype - Free
Skype-to-phone/cellphone - $US0.021/min, either way.
Can you wait to talk to her on wifi? 7.5 hours for about $10 and no
funny business charges. My Japanese friends say Japan is overrun with
free wifi hotspots...(c;


Larry
--
Extremely intelligent life exists that is so smart they never called
Earth.

"VicTek" <abc@xyz.com> wrote in
news:_wdph.58160$qO4.40509@newssvr13.news.prodigy. net:

> Wow, none of that sounds very good. I wonder if it would be more
> affordable to buy a "pay as you go" phone in Japan with just enough
> minutes for the trip? Do they offer that kind of option?
>
>

She taking a laptop? Install Skype on it and talk to her for free from any
wifi hotspot for as long as you like for FREE!

Free is always good....(c;

Even if the wifi costs money, it's not $2.50/minute!



Larry
--
Extremely intelligent life exists that is so smart they never called Earth.

On 2007-01-10, George <george@nospam.invalid> wrote:
> VicTek wrote:
>
>>>
>> Wow, none of that sounds very good. I wonder if it would be more affordable
>> to buy a "pay as you go" phone in Japan with just enough minutes for the
>> trip? Do they offer that kind of option?
>
> There are kiosks at Narita and places like this that will deliver to
> your hotel:
>
> http://www.rentafonejapan.com/
>
> For a couple of weeks it would be cheaper to just buy a prepaid keitai
> at a convenience store and an air time card to add time.

This advice is better than any I could give.

If you still want a US number to call the phone you might give
Skype or some other VoIP service that supports call forwarding
a try. Buy a US number for the service, then forward the account
to the Japan phone number when you know it. You'll pay the long
distance charges to Japan for the calls, but the incoming calls on
the Japan mobile will be free and the long distance rates (Skype's
are 15.4 cents/minute, Yahoo's are 11 cents/minute if they'll let
you forward calls) are comparable to prepaid mobile phone rates.
If you want to keep the cell phone number alive you can forward
it to the US VoIP number for plan minutes (which your wife won't
be using anyway since she's overseas) and have it ring the Japan
phone too.

I use Skype for this. It's been reliable, though Skype is annoying
in some ways and it takes a while before they'll let you spend serious
money on your calls.

Dennis Ferguson

In article <GZ7ph.7603$ji1.1813@newssvr12.news.prodigy.net> , VicTek took
the hamburger meat, threw it on the grill, and I said "Oh Wow"...

> My wife is going to Japan for a couple of weeks and wants to be able to use
> her cell phone there. I've heard it's possible to add on international
> service in a way where people just call your regular cell number instead of
> having to dial international codes - is that correct? Are there any other
> "gotchas" to be aware of to make sure this works properly, such as the modes
> her phone supports? TIA
>

You need the I-dial feature, which you can't make calls internationally
without and you'll probably want the international long distance plan
that's the companion to it, since it'll reduce your per minute charges
while calling from abroad.

--
trippy
mhm31x9 Smeeter#29 WSD#30
sTaRShInE_mOOnBeAm aT HoTmAil dOt CoM

NP: "The American Way" -- Sacred Reich

"Now, technology's getting better all the time and that's fine,
but most of the time all you need is a stick of gum, a pocketknife,
and a smile."

-- Robert Redford "Spy Game"