Job Discussion Forums

nawlinsgurl · Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 7:31 pm Post subject: Keitais?????

Thinking of leaving DoCoMo....and now that I can port my number...who's better?? Au? DoCoMo? Softbank?

JimDunlop2 · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Posts: 2286 Location: Japan

I just switched both my keitais that I own to Softbank (from AU). They have an amazing deal right now (called the Gold Plan) where you pay just under 3,000 yen a month for unlimited calling! Catch is, it's gotta be to other Softbank phones. Calling to land lines or other brand keitais is 100 yen/min. However since most of my friends have Softbank, it suits me just fine. For all the other calls I either use my home line OR just have people call me back...

Oh yeah, and most of their new model phones are capable of international roaming so I can use them in almost any country in the world, including North America and Europe (for when I travel).

Eva Pilot · Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 11:22 am Post subject:

Is this gold plan available to current Softbank keitai owners?

Or new arrivals only?

JimDunlop2 · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Posts: 2286 Location: Japan

Good question.. And all my current Softbank-customer friends keep asking me that and I keep telling them to ask and find out -- because I too would like to know that.... Then I can tell others of it if it's available to them.

Eva Pilot · Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 11:39 am Post subject:

I would be very interested to see if I could look into getting myself into that.

My current deal is OK, but that sound rather handy, and may save me a fair bit of money each month.

nawlinsgurl · Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 10:31 pm Post subject:

JimDunlop2: Thanks for the info! Our DoCoMo bill is killing us!!! My husband never uses his phone except to call me and I use mine all the time. But anything cheaper would be great. Does Softbank have good quality phones? I remember a time when you couldn't get any reception in some places...

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

I heard that Softbank is offering this good deal but will change it in the not-too-distant future after lots of customers are reeled in. You may want to look into it.

JimDunlop2 · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Posts: 2286 Location: Japan

Eva Pilot · Posted: Tue Dec 12, 2006 7:02 am Post subject:

That was the most important question! Crying or Very sad

earthmonkey · Joined: 18 Feb 2005 Posts: 188 Location: Meguro-Ku Tokyo

If signal strength is important to you, I'd avoid Softbank. I finally switched from them(Vodafone) to AU this year after getting tired of having weak or no signal when people around me wiht AU and Docomo had full signal. Switched to 3G first and it was even worse.

The AU signal is much better, about the same as Docomo.

nawlinsgurl · Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2006 9:28 am Post subject:

Thanks. I think Softbank or AU's phones may be better? Jim--is your phone good? Docomo's are crap--or at least the ones I have had are. I'm going to check out the Cameron Diaz cheap phone plan deal also. Thanks! Very Happy

kinshachi · Joined: 06 Sep 2006 Posts: 50 Location: Sydney

I recently got a Softbank phone. I looked at the deal, but unless you're prepared to sign up for a 2 year contract, and are pretty certain you won't lose your phone or want an upgrade, you could end up paying through the nose. For me, it wasn't worth it, so I got a regular plan. The signal is a little weak sometimes, but there's only one basement izakaya where I've had a real problem with it. On the plus side, their phones were pretty good, and the new ones are really good, so overall, I'm quite happy with what I got.

nawlinsgurl · Posted: Sun Dec 24, 2006 1:55 am Post subject:

Thanks for the info. We got a sweet deal on two new phones and the Gold Plan wit Softbank. But we also "had" to sign up for some internet access which is between 980-4220 yen a month. I was confused with this and since I couldn't speak that much Japanese I did a silly thing and let her sign me up for it. Jim or anyone else--know more about this? Oh does Softbank have an English support line? Thanks a bunch!

canuck · Joined: 11 May 2003 Posts: 1921 Location: Japan