Taiwan--No more SIM cards at Convenience Stores

[Prepaid Expert]

I hadn't been to Taiwan for a few years, but was there last week. I was set to buy a SIM card at 7-11, but the Taiwan government has banned sale of SIM cards at anywhere other than phone company offices. It was an issue with criminals using prepaid SIM cards.

I finally got a card from FarEastone, but it was a pain, as the phone company offices don't open until 11:00 a.m., and I would be at the trade show by then. I did get one at night, and it was quite a time consuming process. You need two IDs, a passport and some other goverment ID, i.e. a driver's license. It took three employees about 30 minutes to get the paperwork done, faxed to the home office, etc., then another two hours before it was activated.

The next issue was to keep the account active when I'm out of the country by buying more time every six months. I planned to use their web site to top up, but even after spending 45 minutes another day at another office, they could not get the web site working. First I needed a password, which no one knew how to get. They SMS it to your phone apparently, but my GSM phone is so old that it doesn't support SMS. Then once they figured out the password by puitting the SIM into another phone, the web site still didn't work, and they weren't sure if it was a problem with their server, or something wrong with my account. So I bought an extra top-up card (still sold at 7-11) and I can call direct to a local number in Taiwan to top-up after six months.

[petkow]

Sounds like a bit of a pain if you're only there for a short while. Thanks for the updates.

Originally Posted by Prepaid Expert

...but my GSM phone is so old that it doesn't support SMS.

WOW! That is really old!! I've never seen a GSM phone that doesn't support SMS. New GSM phones really are ridicuously cheap you know!

[FabioG]

Originally Posted by petkow

I've never seen a GSM phone that doesn't support SMS. New GSM phones really are ridicuously cheap you know!

this one doesn't: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorol...rnational_3200

(I happen to have one, it is just funny to go around talking on that phone!)

[petkow]

Do you need a backpack to carry it around in?

I would love to have one of those! Are you selling yours?

[FabioG]

Originally Posted by petkow

Do you need a backpack to carry it around in?

I would love to have one of those! Are you selling yours?

A backpack would be appropriate, since it doesn't quite fit into the pocket of my jeans! I usually keep it home or use it as a fun item at parties.

I bought mine from ebay. They can cost a lot. Be careful if you buy it from Germany (where cheaper items can be found): a lot of Moto3200s where sold in Germany and many Germans buy them in flea markets to sell them on ebay... sim-locked or broken!

I got 'cheated' once.