Using Cell Phones in China
This post is about how to use your cell phone in China. I’m having more trouble than I thought finding out the procedure but here’s what I think I know so far:
* You must have a GSM phone: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_System_for_Mobile_Communications My Treo 650 meets this standard.
* You must have the phone unlocked before the trip. Usually this is done by your provider. In my case this is Sprint
* In some cases you can buy an international calling plan from the providers.
* Cheaper service appears to come via SIM cards you can purchase online or in China. These seem to cost about $30 and include some phone time as well as reductions in per minute costs for international calling. I’m seeing about .18 per minute China to USA which I think is much cheaper than I’ve had with an International Calling plan.
* China Mobile is the big daddy cellular provider in China
Note – I’ll try to revise this and fix mistakes as I figure this out.
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Hi Joe,
My understanding through Verizon is that China is on the CDMA system and therefore, sim cards, which are not on CDMA phones are not needed. Can you verify?
Good stuff! I’m heading over there for a study abroad in mid-February.
hey joe??? got some time to visit your web…hmmmm, i thouth i can find info’s on how people live in china wiyh yheir cell phones.
I’m sorry I didn’t flesh this out more, and not sure if this is still relevant – I was there about a year ago.
A friend who stayed on in China wound up having trouble finding SIM cards that worked with his phone. It worked but the charges per minute were huge to USA. My other friend had a China phone somebody in country loaned him and I think his charges per minute to USA were small.
So based on that I’d recommend you find a *trusted* China contact to buy you a phone in country or advise you on SIM cards. There are a lot of what look like phone sales scams at the stores and markets so be very, careful if you try to buy your own phone and plan in China.