Travel to Korea

[jjttnn]

Hi,

My daughter will be in South Korea for a year.

I would like to set her up with an HTC phone either the Touch Pro or Touch Diamond. I understand that either will support WCDMA or GSM.

Will there be any issues? Any suggestions on another phone or perhaps a good plan in S. Korea?

We expect to use skype on the phone. How is the open wifi availability?

I did SEARCH the forums and most hits were outdated. But, if you must, flame away! :rolleyes:

Thanks and Regards,

Jim

[orb3000]

Hi,

My daughter will be in South Korea for a year.

I would like to set her up with an HTC phone either the Touch Pro or Touch Diamond. I understand that either will support WCDMA or GSM.

Will there be any issues? Any suggestions on another phone or perhaps a good plan in S. Korea?

We expect to use skype on the phone. How is the open wifi availability?

I did SEARCH the forums and most hits were outdated. But, if you must, flame away! :rolleyes:

Thanks and Regards,

Jim

Welcome

As far as I know the limitations won´t be on the phone so look into the provider to choose a plan that cover overseas with a good deal!

Good luck,

[Rudegar]

as far as i know if phones work outside usa and some other american countries
it works in korea too
as in things which are likely to be incomaptible would be cdma (not wcdma because that seem to be what some people call umts/3g)
and 850Mhz gsm and 2100 umts

[kyphur]

Last I heard (and I could be wrong or it could have changed since) was that Korea used CDMA networks with SIM Cards, yeah it sounded strange to me at the time also.

You need to confirm what Bands/network types are being used in Korea then you can find your answers...

[Rudegar]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone
it's not 100% clear but seem to state that korea have several systems

"There are three major technical standards for the current generation of mobile phones and networks, and two major standards for the next generation 3G phones and networks. All European and African countries and many Asian countries have adopted a single system, GSM, which is the only technology available on all continents and in most countries and covers over 74% of all subscribers on mobile networks. In many countries, such as the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, India,, South Korea, and Vietnam, GSM co-exists with other internationally adopted standards such as CDMA and TDMA, as well as national standards such as iDEN in the USA and PDC in Japan. Over the past five years several dozen mobile operators (carriers) have abandoned networks on TDMA and CDMA technologies, switching over to GSM."

[jjttnn]

Everyone, thanks for your input. We got a Kaiser and will be setting it up over the next few days. Should have some good information from her in a couple of weeks.

Searching/Looking for a good radio now.

Regards

[pavankp]

Will there be any issues? Any suggestions on another phone or perhaps a good plan in S. Korea?


When I was in Seoul and Busan last year, my GSM quad-band phone did not get any signal. The hotels I stayed at provided their customers a cell phone to use for the stay, and mentioned that US phones -- GSM or CDMA -- would not work in Korea. I would call a provider and ask, just to be sure.

[jjttnn]

Thanks pavankp, you scared me to action. You are correct, turns out a 3g phone is needed, a quad-band is not enough. Found this at att: http://www.att.com/Common/merger/files/pdf/international_calling/International_Travel_Tips-FS.pdf

Excerpt: A GSM quad-band phone (that works on 850/900/1800/1900 MHz frequencies) provides the widest coverage internationally. Most AT&T phones in stores today are quad-band. For travel to Japan or South Korea, your phone must operate on 3G technology at 2100 MHz. Phones that will operate in Japan and South Korea include the BlackBerry Bold, iPhone 3G, BlackJack II, Sony Ericsson z750, HTC Fuze, LG Incite, Samsung Epix and AT&T Quickfire. ...

Regards.

[Binary100100]

I spent time in S Korea in the Army. Camp Casey. Sucked. LOL. But that was back in 2000 so I'm sure a lot has changed. But you couldn't get regular AT&T service there. The phones you buy there are a little different. I think the technology is better in my opinion. Back in 2000 the phones there already had colored screens! Granted that most of them was not in English so I really had no interest in playing around with one to see what was so special about it. Wish her luck for me though.