us and china accessible plans?

[lele]

Hello all!

Since my darling's interview is only a few days away now, I am starting to think of logistics for her arrival and our reunification (forever this time!!!).

One of the issues that I have come across I can not seem to get sufficient information about, and I want to pose to everyone the question, so that we can see if an answer can be found.

I have looked far and wide for a tri-band cell phone which would be usable both in a plan here in the US for us to have (as a family unit), as well as when we go back to China. I *do* know that if we purchased a SIM chip in china and placed it into the phone, that it would work there, without a problem, and without needing to pay the extremely high prices that the US companies charge to use a cell phone in China.

However, there seem to be few tri-band phones in the US, and of the few that I have been able to find, most are "locked", meaning that one can not easily get to the SIM card.

And the ones that I have found I can not find any domestic carriers for (they seem to be used mostly in Europe and Asia).

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks again!!

[Dean Hall]

My phone of choice is the Motorola V300, with a T-Mobile plan.

 

We have 2 of these on the plan, and international activation is free. Actually using it in China runs about 3.60 a minute, but in emergencies, its worked well, and crystal clear.

 

Changing the sim card once in China takes less than 30 sec. Pop off the batterie, and sim card is accessible right there.

 

More than satisfied with my V300 at T-Mo.

 

Dean

[Dan R]

SBC, At&T and Cingular have easily switched SIm cards. I am on Verizon so it is limited to the U.S. but we can text message each other easily . Verizon has an international rental plan for traveling to other countries. I just used her phone.

[lele]

My phone of choice is the Motorola V300, with a T-Mobile plan.

 

We have 2 of these on the plan, and international activation is free.  Actually using it in China runs about 3.60 a minute, but in emergencies, its worked well, and crystal clear.

 

Changing the sim card once in China takes less than 30 sec.  Pop off the batterie, and sim card is accessible right there.

 

More than satisfied with my V300 at T-Mo.

 

Dean

Great! So, once the sim card was popped out and the Chinese one entered in, you did not have to pay the outrageous fees that the US company charged anymore, and could just act like any other Chinese cell-phone user?

 

If this is the case, then thanks so much!!!

 

Do you know of other phones which allow this to happen?

 

Is your phone triband? Will it also work in other countries (besides the US and China)?

 

Thanks again!

[maxmilagro]

I purchased my GMS sims phone from a company called Telestial www.telestial.com

 

It's a Motorola tri-band which works over here in China for 57 cents per minute outgoing and 7 cents per minute incoming. I don't know if it will work in the US but it does have the 1900 band.

[lele]

Hi!

 

So, I have just been looking more and now I encounter the issue of "unlocking".

 

So, if I were to purchase a US Service plan, it seems as though I may have to deal with the phone being "service locked"? Are there any phones that do not have this issue? If this is the case, what would I need to do before I could have it "unlocked" and hence a SIM card for china inserted into it when I am traveling in China?

 

Thanks!

 

ps. so far I have looked at the Nokia 3660, 6600 and the Motorola v300, v600

[jt1832]

I have Cingular and pay an extra $3.99 so that I can call China from here at $0.15 per minute. The best rate I can find without using a calling card or broadband phone. My phone came unlocked and I have never had a problem using another sim. (Motorola V551) It's a Quad band too....I just called and told them I was going to China for a few weeks and they set the phone for international roaming too. Calling from china though is a little more expensive....$0.89 per minute, but at least for emergencies it is worthwhile. If you are traveling thru HK or another big city, you can always pick up a phone there. I got a nice 3 band nokia with chinese character recognition for $120 US ....unlocked of course...and works great here in the US....

[beijingjj]

Hi!

 

So, I have just been looking more and now I encounter the issue of "unlocking".

 

So, if I were to purchase a US Service plan, it seems as though I may have to deal with the phone being "service locked"?  Are there any phones that do not have this issue?  If this is the case, what would I need to do before I could have it "unlocked" and hence a SIM card for china inserted into it when I am traveling in China?

 

Thanks!

 

ps. so far I have looked at the Nokia 3660, 6600 and the Motorola v300, v600

GSM phones bought in the U.S. with a plan are locked to their provider. It is possible to unlock them, but not always easy. Depending on where you live and the availability of service, I would recommend buying a GSM phone in China. There is a much greater selection there and it won't be locked. You can buy a recharge card while you're there and do the same when you are here. One of my colleagues used his 800RMB GSM phone here in the Washington D.C. area with a recharge plan (I think it was T-Mobile) and was very happy. No need to sign up for a plan.

[lele]

GSM phones bought in the U.S. with a plan are locked to their provider.  It is possible to unlock them, but not always easy.  Depending on where you live and the availability of service, I would recommend buying a GSM phone in China.  There is a much greater selection there and it won't be locked.  You can buy a recharge card while you're there and do the same when you are here.  One of my colleagues used his 800RMB GSM phone here in the Washington D.C. area with a recharge plan (I think it was T-Mobile) and was very happy.  No need to sign up for a plan.

You have hit upon the question I am trying to get some answers about!

 

I *want* a plan in the US, as the plans are *far* cheaper for us, especially since we will appreciate the free minutes to call each other while we are all over town and arranging to meet up. Further, they are cheaper than prepaid cards, etc.

 

But, it seems that they come locked.

 

We *could* purchase a phone abroad, and there are some nice ones for the 1000RMB level. However, then we are spending an extra about US$240 for the phones (and the ones I saw above are free when included with plans here). And for this extra money, it will pay for roughly 5 months worth of service...

 

Any suggestions, or just go with the purchasing of the phones abroad? I wish that they *could* be unlocked. If anyone knows of a company which will do this, or better yet, a person who can do this for little money, that would be the best way, or at least the second best way. The best way is if they will come, activated, but unlocked in the first place.

 

Thanks for your help, and the good ideas posted so far.

[mlspyl]

Lele:

 

 

I handle the communications at my company. So, I must ensure the execs have phones that work in any country. We use VerizonWireless which utilizes CDMA technology, while most other vendors use GSM technology, which is also used in most other countries including the USA.

 

However, VerizonWireless has a phone that can use both CDMA and GSM technology. They call it the WorldPhone (original !!!). There are two flavors, a Samsung and Motorola phone.

 

I have a Samsung and have used it during my last two trips to China. It automatically locates the local wireless provider, either China Unicom or China Mobile in southern China. It works perfect , at least in Guangdong and Hunan Provinces. Have not tried it elsewhere, but I am certain it will work anywhere in China that has cell coverage. Plus it works in most other countries also.

 

In the USA, it uses my normal plan for calling (shared plan and free minutes, etc.), while overseas it costs 99 cents per minute (might be 90 cents/minute, I cannot remember). In Hong Kong, in China, or wherever. I have my same cell phone number, so family and work can call me.

 

It works flawlessly and I would recommend this to anyone. If you are interested, e-mail me. I hope this helps.

 

 

Mark