Un Lock Japanese Cell Phone

[bjsanook]

Have several cells from Japan which I would like to un-lock and use for local calls my next trip to Pats.

Anyone know of a shop that can do this service? Or is it Panthip action.

Thanks,

BJ

[monty]

Most probably this will not be possible, since all of Japans providers use a different technology then what most of the world uses.

PDC (Personal Digital Cellular), CDMA (Code Divisional Multiple Access) and WCDMA are the used systems in Japan, while in Thailand we use the GSM network...

They do sell dual mode phones over there, (meaning they can handle two different systems, as opposed to dual band phones which can work on two different frequencies within the same system) but these are not very common and specifically aimed at the traveling business person...

Although Cat/Hutch uses the cdma system (available in Pattaya), these are not very common, so I doubt the phone shops will have a lot of experience with these phones...

[bjsanook]

Hi Monty,

The phones I have are dual and can be un-locked. I looked it the up on the internet. I just don't want to pay the fees they are asking as it is usually cheaper to get things done in LOS.

The settings allow it to be DUAL, UMTS or GSM. When I travel to Thailand I switch it to GSM and it works fine. But the calls are expensive since it is still the Japanese number. (If I call a friend, it looks like I'm in Japan). Good for hiding, bad for the bill. That's why I wanted to bring one of my other phones I don't use since I upgraded and use it strictly for Thai commo. It is a Toshiba 803T, has everything and I hope will be able to be un-locked.

Thanks for the reply!!

BJ

[monty]

In that case I think your best bet would be Mahboonkhrong in Bangkok.

They often can't unlock less popular or very recent models. MBK is probably the first place where it is possible. Just a little afraid for you since AFAIK Toshiba mobiles are not sold over here...

[Kerryd]

I don't know much about the whole "un-locking" business, but I do know that in the TukCom IT Centre (# 2 Road, between soi DayNight 1 & DayNight 2), there are numerous little shops that offer un-locking services. I plan on taking my Canadian phone there when I get back in January (foo-king boo-gers are willing to sell quad-band phones, but only let you use tri-band. They say they aren't allowed to "un-lock" them )

As Monty mentions though, they probably don't have a lot of experience with phones other than the kind they sell themselves.

(self-edited to remove potentially naughty words before Jai Dee sees them ! )

Edited December 22, 2006 by Kerryd