WW-144 -- Global Roaming: Using a non-Japanese Phone in Japan

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J@pan Inc presents the Wireless Watch Newsletter:

W I R E L E S S W A T C H

Commentary on Japan's Wireless World
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Wireless Watch Newsletter
Issue No. 144
Wednesday July 20, 2005
TOKYO

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CONTENTS

@@ Viewpoint: Global Roaming: Using a non-Japanese Phone in Japan

========== NetTokyo - Summer Charity Networking Event =========
The Entrepreneur Association of Tokyo will be replacing their
regular August seminar with this charity event to be held on
July 23rd from 2:00 pm - 7:00 pm at the Hills Bar & Cafe in
Roppongi Hills. NetTokyo Summer 2005 aims to be the largest
gathering of professionals for the international community
in Japan this year. All proceeds will go to charities.
For more information please visit: http://www.nettokyo.jp.
To pre-register and pre-pay please visit:
http://www.nettokyo.jp/signup.html
If you have any questions please contact: info@nettokyo.jp
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@@ Viewpoint: Global Roaming: Using a non-Japanese Phone in Japan

The previous newsletter covering the usage of Japanese mobile
phones outsides Japan elicited questions from several frequent
visitors to these shores. One oft-asked question was, "Does it
make sense to bring my own phone to Japan?" The answer
depends on your carrier, type of phone and type of subscription.

If you are a Vodafone subscriber and a 'proud' owner of a 3G-phone,
you can roam on Vodafone Japan's network without changing your
mobile number. This is the most convenient roaming service at the
moment but requires a Vodafone subscription in your home country.
You will be directly billed on your Vodafone account.

NTT DoCoMo offers a rental phone service for subscribers of their
international roaming partners. By inserting your SIM card into the
rental handset, you won't miss any calls. Do not expect the latest
+3G handsets with the latest gadgets - DoCoMo rents out the
uninspired A835 Motorola for 525 yen per day. This service is available
for subscribers of US carriers T-Mobile and former AT&T (not Cingular)
and most European and Asian carriers. The rental shops can be found
at the international airports of Narita, Kansai and Nagoya. Vodafone
offers similar phone rental services as DoCoMo but for almost double
rates.

We recommend checking your carrier's international roaming plans for
the latest updates because the situation is frequently changing. Most
carriers also require registering before you can use the global roaming
services.

Buying a prepaid phone in a local convenience store is not an option if
you are not a resident in Japan as you have to register the phone using
your alien registration card.

KDDI announced last week a new service for their Japanese subscribers -
an international roaming service between KDDI's CDMA network and
GSM networks. These two networks' standards are technically incompatible.
By using Syniverse's solutions, KDDI subscribers can use their existing
phone number to make and receive calls while roaming. Syniverse provides
the necessary signaling and translation, number mapping between the
networks, as well as billing data conversion. KDDI needs to provide their
subscribers with an activated SIM-card to use this service and a GSM
phone. Still not an easy solution but their subscribers can now use their
own number, even in GSM countries.
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STAFF
Written by Arjen van Blokland; Edited by Burritt Sabin
(editors@japaninc.com)

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