Will the Droid Pro work overseas on a prepaid sim?

[MO3iusONE]

BLARGH! Yet another update.

I tried popping a sim card into my Dell Venue Pro and..sure enough, it did not work.. Two phones I bring to Korea.. and non of them work, I should have kept the Nexus One, maybe I would have had better luck with that.

 

[MO3iusONE]

I swear, something isn't right, both phones support 2100 frequencies, I could understand these phones not working on a prepaid plan but, I dont see why they wouldn't work on a regular plan with data. A co worker of mine managed to get his Sidekick 4G to work over here..I'll have to look into this some more..

 

[bsweetness]

I swear, something isn't right, both phones support 2100 frequencies, I could understand these phones not working on a prepaid plan but, I dont see why they wouldn't work on a regular plan with data. A co worker of mine managed to get his Sidekick 4G to work over here..I'll have to look into this some more..

Take a look at my post just above your two recent ones. Korea locks down foreign cell phones pretty hard in order to encourage the local market. It's possible to get phones not in their systems to work, but it's not as easy as popping in a SIM card. That's why they won't work. You'll have the same experience with any foreign cell phone. I used to live in Korea, so I'm quite familiar with it all.

 

[MO3iusONE]

Yeah I read your post but like I said, I got a few friends that brought their phones over (side kick) and managed to make it work, so I want to make sure my phones dont work before I spend money on another one. I'll keep you guys posted, more than likely I'm gonna end up buying a Motorola Droid, or whatever its called overhere, its under a different name.

 

[Matveh]

My Droid 2 Global works just fine on the CDMA network here in South Korea. I have the international data plan with Verizon. However, there must be some network speed restriction placed on my device by the Korean wireless provider that Verizon is contracted with for international roaming. I recently ran a speed test app and my download speed clocked around 130 kb/s while my upload limit was around 200 kb/s.

Plus, I just got off the phone with customer service and they said that because the Korean network is CDMA, even with a Korean SIM in the phone it would probably revert to the Verizon international carrier. I think there's GSM available in Korea but I read somewhere in these forums that GSM kills the Droid battery.

 

[tennvol]

When I use GSM overseas my battery life is better than CDMA here in the states

Sent from my DROID PRO using DroidForums

 

[bsweetness]

My Droid 2 Global works just fine on the CDMA network here in South Korea. I have the international data plan with Verizon. However, there must be some network speed restriction placed on my device by the Korean wireless provider that Verizon is contracted with for international roaming. I recently ran a speed test app and my download speed clocked around 130 kb/s while my upload limit was around 200 kb/s.

Plus, I just got off the phone with customer service and they said that because the Korean network is CDMA, even with a Korean SIM in the phone it would probably revert to the Verizon international carrier. I think there's GSM available in Korea but I read somewhere in these forums that GSM kills the Droid battery.

I'm pretty sure that the OP wants to use a local SIM card on a local plan and not pay Verizon's international roaming fees. It's significantly cheaper. Verizon of course prefers you to stick with their international roaming so they get paid.

And my battery life is always better on GSM than CDMA.

 

[monster]

So a stupid question here, does putting a pre-paid SIM in the phone avoid the roaming charges for the phone calls, the data, or both? I'm trying to figure out a solution for going into Canada and this sounds like the closest I've seen.

 

[Matveh]

Yes, using the prepaid SIM should avoid roaming charges.

@the OP: A guy at a QOOK SHOW store told me today that the Moto D2G only works on SK (aka T-world) here in Korea. I'm going to hit an SK shop in the next couple of days to try to get a SIM for my D2G while I'm here. When I get a SIM that works, I'll try to let you know.

 

[bsweetness]

Yes, using the prepaid SIM should avoid roaming charges.

@the OP: A guy at a QOOK SHOW store told me today that the Moto D2G only works on SK (aka T-world) here in Korea. I'm going to hit an SK shop in the next couple of days to try to get a SIM for my D2G while I'm here. When I get a SIM that works, I'll try to let you know.

I talked with a friend of mine in Busan the other day, and he said that SK and KT have been allowing more and more unlocked foreign phones on their network. Sounds like the regulations on foreign phones are finally starting to break down.

 

[Matveh]

From the KT Expat Blog:

"As of January 24th, 2011, the Korean Communications Commission has enacted a new policy allowing phones purchased outside of the Republic of Korea to be used locally, without need of a Certificate of Broadcasting and Communication Equipment (“방송통신기기인증서”, also known as a “전파인증서”). All that is needed is (free) registry of the device’s IMEI and serial number into our system.

(Previously, non-Korean phones were not usable on Korean networks without a prior costly certification through the KCC.)"


KT's Expat Blog :: Use of non-Korean Mobile Devices with KT

 

[bsweetness]

From the KT Expat Blog:

"As of January 24th, 2011, the Korean Communications Commission has enacted a new policy allowing phones purchased outside of the Republic of Korea to be used locally, without need of a Certificate of Broadcasting and Communication Equipment (“방송통신기기인증서”, also known as a “전파인증서”). All that is needed is (free) registry of the device’s IMEI and serial number into our system.

(Previously, non-Korean phones were not usable on Korean networks without a prior costly certification through the KCC.)"


KT's Expat Blog :: Use of non-Korean Mobile Devices with KT

Awesome. That should be the answer that the OP is looking for. Glad they changed that recently.

 

[Matveh]

Update: I have an SK Telecom SIM in my Droid 2 Global right now. It's working fine.

 

[VerizonGuy]

well get the droid pro definately for international calling.. but then theres this mostly free great service from google voice.. free to register just like a g-mail but it allows you to make outbound calls through a forwarding service.. internaitonal calls are on avg. 35 cents less per min... works great too if your phones shut off for any reason missed bill pay or whatever the reason may be.. national calling and texting is free.. check it out google.com/voice