Using Dinc2 in Japan

erjennin

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Dec 25, 2009
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I have a potential job offer to work in Japan for 2 years and I want to take my Dinc with me. I know the Verizon international pricing is too expensive to use over there for an extended period of time.

Can someone let me know if I can take this phone off of Verizon and put it on a local Japanese carrier? If so, which one and how can I do it?

I'm hoping one of you has some experience doing this.
 

hachiroku13954

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May 13, 2011
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I talked to a VZW rep about it and said that first you must have the phone and contract for a certain amount of time. After that you take your phone to the store deactivate it, unlock it, change setting to gsm and then insert the sim card from wherever country to going to.
 

erjennin

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Dec 25, 2009
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I talked to a VZW rep about it and said that first you must have the phone and contract for a certain amount of time. After that you take your phone to the store deactivate it, unlock it, change setting to gsm and then insert the sim card from wherever country to going to.
Thanks for advice. Do you have any suggested carriers in Japan? How does the phone plans work over there? How is data and voice structured?
 

teddeli

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May 3, 2010
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I talked to a VZW rep about it and said that first you must have the phone and contract for a certain amount of time. After that you take your phone to the store deactivate it, unlock it, change setting to gsm and then insert the sim card from wherever country to going to.

If you take the phone to the store and ask them to unlock it they will most likely say "huh? it can't be unlocked" However if you call customer support and say you would like your phone unlocked they will be able to do it. If they are clueless and say it can't hang up and call back.

Verizon WILL unlock your phone if you have been a customer for three months and have a good payment history. There are some other minor conditions but I can't remember them now. Unless things have changed "would you like to unlock your phone" is a menu option in customer service. They will give you the unlock code . I've heard of some reps even walking you through the process.

If your phone is unlocked you now can use a foreign SIM card in place of the Verizon one. You do not have to deactivate it but was somewhat tricky when going from my blackberry to my android.
 

PhiPsi32

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Feb 21, 2011
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First off, here is the Verizon information page for Japan

Calling From Japan

Second, if you are going to be in Japan for 2yrs, do you need to keep a US based phone? I don't know. It depends on how often you'll be coming back to the US and how much you're willing to pay for the convenience of keeping your Verizon account. On the other hand, it doesn't necessarily have to cost you an arm and a leg. I haven't done it in a long time, but you should be able to suspend your VZW service while in Japan. Of course, this will extend any contract you're currently under. You'd have to call Verizon to get the details.

Third, if you want to use your phone with a local carrier over there, make sure you can find a GSM or UMTS carrier that can provide a SIM card. I believe that J-phone offers UMTS service, but you should check on that. Then get your DI2 unlocked by calling VZW Global Services (see above link). The criteria as I recall are 60 days post paid in good standing OR paid full price for handset.

Finally, best of luck. If my employer offered me a chance to go to Japan for 2yrs, I'd be there right now. I hope everything goes well for you.
 

erjennin

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Dec 25, 2009
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Thanks for the advice.
If I kept the Verizon SIM could I pop it in the phone whenever I returned to the U.S. to visit? Basically, could I pop in a different SIM depending on what country I'm in?
 

PhiPsi32

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Feb 21, 2011
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I have a pay-as-you-go Global SIM which works well for me (if you don't mind using the callback feature). I presume an AT&T or T-Mo SIM will work but I haven't tried it. The Verizon SIM card is only for roaming outside North America.
 

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