Meiji Huaren Posted January 10, 2009 Report Share Posted January 10, 2009 In China it's fairly simple to purchase a pre-paid sim chip at the local store put it in your cell phone and then you have instant mobile service without a contract. But do any of you know if you can purchase a pre-paid sim chip that also has data service so that I can check my emails and check the internet? I'm doubtful if this is available. If not, is it possible to buy just a 1 or 2 month data service from China Mobile or other carrier? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy W Posted January 10, 2009 Report Share Posted January 10, 2009 (edited) In China it's fairly simple to purchase a pre-paid sim chip at the local store put it in your cell phone and then you have instant mobile service without a contract. But do any of you know if you can purchase a pre-paid sim chip that also has data service so that I can check my emails and check the internet? I'm doubtful if this is available. If not, is it possible to buy just a 1 or 2 month data service from China Mobile or other carrier? I'm pretty sure it is possible, but I have not done that myself. You can purchase pre-paid sim's for around $20 that should let you do all the calling you want. Re-charge if needed, Make sure your phone is NOT locked to a US carrier. If it is, it's still usually possible to get it unlocked. We have had members who took their call phones on international roaming and kept in email touch that way, but it is very expensive. (But at least we know the data network is there) Maybe reasonable for emailing, since you don't need to connect for very long. http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90884/6552670.html Here's an expensive one 2005 - China Mobile data services China Mobile GPRS Packages Edited January 10, 2009 by Randy W (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meiji Huaren Posted January 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2009 I'm pretty sure it is possible, but I have not done that myself. You can purchase pre-paid sim's for around $20 that should let you do all the calling you want. Re-charge if needed, Make sure your phone is NOT locked to a US carrier. If it is, it's still usually possible to get it unlocked. We have had members who took their call phones on international roaming and kept in email touch that way, but it is very expensive. (But at least we know the data network is there) Maybe reasonable for emailing, since you don't need to connect for very long. http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90884/6552670.html Here's an expensive one 2005 - China Mobile data services China Mobile GPRS Packages Great! thanks for the useful info. You're right about BrightRoam being expensive. It looked really convenient until I saw the rates. I will definitely bookmark the last website and consider this as an option. 5 RMB sounds unrealistically cheap. I just used some software to unlock my phone yesterday and look forward to using it China. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpedbored Posted January 11, 2009 Report Share Posted January 11, 2009 You can't do the sim card with all phones in China. It needs to be a GDMA phone like TMobile or ATT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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