Friend travelling to Japan : International Roming / Any other option ??

S

Hi All,
My friend is traveling to Japan.
The assignment is for more that one year and it looks like it will take more than 2 months to get a mobile connection there.

So the question is, till she gets a new connection there, what are the possible ways for communication to India ?
She currently owns a Samsung Galaxy S3 and Tamil Nadu Airtel sim in it.

Ur suggestion please.

international Roming
Magic Jack
Anything else ??

and one more question , is it better to get a contract phone or unlocked phone there ?

S

Have you tried matrix sims??

Shiva

1. In Japan, You can get some sort of data cards which you can use for calling ( Even international )..this will be a bit expensive though..

2. You can try Viber/skype if you have some sort of wifi connection over there.

3. Get Contract phones if you wanna save money. Otherwise, i would suggest Unlocked.
My brother got an iphone 4 ( Contract-locked) at dirt-cheap price when he was in Japan for 2 years. But,now that he's returned back to india, apparently, its very difficult & expensive to Unlock an iphone4 (locked to a Japan Carrier) .. Using it as a ipod.

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We mostly Communicated using Skype as it was much cheaper .

S

shivakanth.sujit said:
Have you tried matrix sims??

Shiva

Thanks for ur suggestion...
Have u tried this any time ?
How are the rates ?

Any alternatives ?
How long will it take to get the sim ?

S

ashs1 said:
1. In Japan, You can get some sort of data cards which you can use for calling ( Even international )..this will be a bit expensive though..

2. You can try Viber/skype if you have some sort of wifi connection over there.

3. Get Contract phones if you wanna save money. Otherwise, i would suggest Unlocked.
My brother got an iphone 4 ( Contract-locked) at dirt-cheap price when he was in Japan for 2 years. But,now that he's returned back to india, apparently, its very difficult & expensive to Unlock an iphone4 (locked to a Japan Carrier) .. Using it as a ipod. (

We mostly Communicated using Skype as it was much cheaper .

Wifi - not sure where n all we will have. That's why.

And will try to get unlocked iphone... thanks for the advice...

K

sinoop_joy said:
Hi All,
My friend is traveling to Japan.
The assignment is for more that one year and it looks like it will take more than 2 months to get a mobile connection there.

So the question is, till she gets a new connection there, what are the possible ways for communication to India ?
She currently owns a Samsung Galaxy S3 and Tamil Nadu Airtel sim in it.

Ur suggestion please.

international Roming

Magic Jack

Anything else ??

and one more question , is it better to get a contract phone or unlocked phone there ?

I guess BSNL/MTNL offers 1rupee/min calling to South-East Asia,Dubai,etc.
Just check if Japan is in the list!

Just advice her to get cheapest call rates card!
Finally considering cheap broadband and wifi,she should primarily use Skype and Viber!

S

sinoop_joy said:
Thanks for ur suggestion...
Have u tried this any time ?
How are the rates ?

Any alternatives ?
How long will it take to get the sim ?

I haven't , but my dad has. The rates are cheaper and you get free incoming calls.

More info :-*www.matrix.in/Countries/Asia/Japan-SIM-Cards

Shiva

During my recent travel...I used True Move sim cards...I got this at the Indian airport itself and it got activated when I reach the country. Though the call charges can be of concern. Internet would be the best choice.

S

Got details of Matrix Sim cards. The rates are high compared to India. But that is expected.

One more clarification. If I opt for matrix sims(/ any other) , the will be providing CDMA sim card. This is going to work in my S3 international version (I9300) in Japan without any issues, ryt ?

Always good to buy local sim cards, wherever one travels. Matrix etc are a bit expensive. And for a year or so, definitely local card as per appropriate plan.

Internet will be the cheapest.

ur friend should take this with him :
WorldSIM International SIM card & Data Roaming Travel Accessories

their outlets are available at major cities and airports too. just buy a sim from there with talktime credit $45-$160.

call receive is free, but call charge from JP to IN would be high, now u have gtalk for that purpose.

possible ways to communicate?

Email, whatsapp, facebook, skype, viber, etc all on wifi/data network.

S

sinoop_joy said:
One more clarification. If I opt for matrix sims(/ any other) , the will be providing CDMA sim card. This is going to work in my S3 international version (I9300) in Japan without any issues, ryt ?

Any answers for this ?

S

Got matrix sim...

Had some issues at first..
Now ok..

1750 for sim.
They give UK sim. It has no incoming charges. Outgoing is pretty costly...