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Many US or Canadian
based cell phones do not work at all in China. Those
that do tend to be extremely expensive. For example,
T-Mobile is currently charging $2.99 per minute plus
tax for all incoming and out going calls and the
other major carriers are not far behind in terms of
costs.
This article is intended to advise you on whether
your phone works in China and how to get the best
rates for cellular service in China, regardless if
your phone works or not.
Will my cell phone work in China?
Approximately 50% of all US and Canadian cell phones
currently will work in China. As a rule of thumb,
most phones using T-Mobile and AT&T in the United
States and Rogers in Canada will work in China while
most other carriers, including Sprint and Verizon
will not. In order for a cell phone to work in
China, it must be a GSM phone having the 900 as well
as the 1800 Mhz frequencies or bands. T-Mobile, AT&T
and Rogers phones do use the GSM network but in
North America, we use 1900 and 850 Mhz. Still, many
cell phone models, usually called “quad bands” do
have the international 900/1800 bands.
The best way to determine if your phone does have
those bands is to look at the specs in the user
guide or, if you know the model, go online and
search for the phone specs of your phone.
If have confirmed that your cell phone will work in
China, you can either decide to keep the current SIM
card with your provider in the phone and pay the
extremely high rates that North American providers
charge to use their service in China or, you can
swap out their SIM cards and use a local Chinese one
and literally spend pennies as opposed to dollars.
Locked vs. unlocked Phones
The vast majority of US and Canadian carriers “lock”
their handsets. The few hybrid CDMA/GSM cell phones
that Sprint and Verizon carry generally are not
locked but please check with your provider. That
means that the phone will only accept their SIM
cards. However, US carriers will, as long as you
have been a customer with them for usually 60 days,
unlock your handset upon request. Simply call them
and ask them to provide you with the unlock code for
your handset. They will generally provide you with
this information within 24 hours. The only exception
currently is for the iPhone which they will not
unlock. Canadian carriers on the other hand will not
unlock your phone in any circumstance. There are
also online websites that will usually send you the
code via email to unlock your handset. Many mom and
pop brick and mortar cell phone stores, particularly
in larger cities such as NYC, Miami and Los Angeles
will also unlock your phone. Online stores generally
charge $10-$15 and physical stores usually around
$25 but more for some phone models, particularly the iPhone.
More on SIM cards for China
If you have an unlocked phone that you have
determined has the proper bands for China
(900/1800), you can purchase a Chinese SIM cards and
get incredible rates within China or calling back to
the US, Canada or elsewhere. There are two carriers
in China, Unicom and China Mobile with China Mobile
being the larger of the two and actually the largest
telecom carrier in the world. Rates are as low as
$0.05 – even to call back to the US or Canada. SIM
cards for China are easy and inexpensive to find and
purchase in China but, please note that there are
many types available for purchase. Not all will
allow you to place international calls. You may also
purchase them online. There are several US vendors,
including
www.cellularabroad.com and www.amazon.com
that offer SIM cards. Amazon possibly has the least
expensive options but you can forget about them
offering any type of customer service while Cellular
Abroad specializes specifically in international SIM
cards and is renowned for their customer service.
If your phone does not work in China, you should
consider renting or purchasing a handset.
Renting or buying a cell phone for China
At $2.99 a minute plus tax with T-Mobile, a 30
minute conversation will cost you more than $100.
Even if you do not pick up the phone and the calls
go directly to your voicemail, you will be charged
for the call. You can purchase a SIM card for China
together with a compatible cell phone for around
$100. If you travel internationally, not just to
China but anywhere internationally, it makes the
most sense to purchase to own an unlocked phone and
then purchase local SIM cards. While not every
country offers rates as low as China, you certainly
will pay much less than if you were to roam with
your domestic provider.
If you do not plan on traveling overseas at least
once a year, and you are not staying in China for an
extended period of time, say a month or so, it makes
sense to rent a handset and then use a pay as you go
SIM card from a Chinese carrier such as China
Mobile. Unicom is the other carrier in China and,
while it has decent coverage, it is nowhere as broad
as China Mobile’s coverage.
Data Services
Data services are currently not available for pay as
you go options but, you can of course get cellular
broadband services while in China. Typically, if you
roam with carriers such as AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon
or others, you will incur huge data roaming services
fees. The best way is to rent a service that has a
direct agreement with China Mobile or Unicom, not
roaming agreements but direct agreements. Cellular
Abroad (www.cellularabroad.com) rents a MiFi device
with a China Mobile SIM card. The MiFi device is a
small portable device that creates your own personal
hotspot that allows you to connect any device, such
as an iPad, iPhone, computer or smartphone to this
device. This is certainly the easiest way to stay
connected as there is little or no configuring
necessary. There are also companies that rent USB
sticks that go directly into your PC but they tend
to be somewhat tricky to set up and of course will
not allow you access with other devices. In terms of
fees, you can expect to pay approximately $10 a day
for the device plus the usage which, since it is not
roaming, should be moderately priced.
(Text Source:
Cellular Abroad) |
