I am going to Japan next week and I have been browsing here and elsewhere for some possibilities to get voice (but above all data) on mobile phone in Japan.
I already have a 3G HSPDA mobile phone (already tested for voice and data, in better days for the rates, in Japan), therefore I do not need in principle any equipment, only a local SIM and a good rate.
I would have no problem to rent also unnecessary equipment for the solely purpose to get a bundle with reasonable rates.
I also plan to use my PDA (no laptopos or netbooks to travel light and have always Internet in my pocket).
If you go here:
Japan National Tourism Organization | Arrange Your Travel | Essential Info | Telephone & Postal Services
there is a list of possibilities and operators renting SIMs and/or mobile phones and USB dongles.
Softbank have changed something under my eyes in the last 2 days. 2 days ago it was clearly stated that for a SIM only rental it would be impossible to have data transfer. Now it is possible.
It seems a good news but it is not.
The fee is outrageously high, as those from G-Call (.42 Yen/128 bytes) and, partially, from PuPuru (.42 Yen/128 bytes) :
0.32 Yen/128 bytes. If I have made all calculations right, we get to about 18 Euros/Mbyte.
With my own roaming Italian SIM I can get far better (but still too high) rates without having the hassle of making any deal in Japan.
Better still, I have a Base Belgium SIM, and DOCOMO is among their second line preferential operators, and with them I could go "down" to 3.5 Euros/MB (biled by the KB) without any hassle. Everything already working, all configured and running.
PuPuru, apart from the full rate, have a flat rate bundled with the rental of a phone which cuts the full rate down to 1/4. But we are still at around 5 Euros/MB and BASE still wins. Therefore, no gain...
They also have a
flat Data plan, which is quite competitive:
E-Mobile Rental Service?PuPuru: Cell Phone Rentals Japan
but is seems it can only be used in their own USB dongles (no phone option provided in this case, it seems).
I have asked them and they have told me that it is not possible to put the SIM card in other devices...
Question: has anyone tried this option? Opinions?
Has anyone tried to put the SIM out of the USB and used in another device (I cannot use a USB dongle, since I will have no reale PCs) or is the USIM locked?
I do not want to make anything very strange. I would rent and pay the whole bundle (SIM+USB and use it in my phone, hoping to find all correct configuration parameters... any help on this also very welcome!) and use it, only difference using my mobile instead of the USB dongle as modem.
Thank you in advance for any advice/experience!
Sleepy