Job Discussion Forums

[featherp]

I am not techno savvy in anyway, but I currently have droid phone (HTC Desire) that can be unlocked and used on other networks (currently I am in Australia) can anyone please give me a heads up on 1) will i be able to use my mobile in China using a Chinese company and their plan? and 2) we would like to be in 'regular' contact with our son back in Australia while teaching in China (we will have Skype, but pinning him down to a time and a laptop would be interesting) would anyone have any idea how much a monthly phone plan that includes text and calls to Australia would set us back a month? or if you could point me to a website. thanks for your help.

[tributary]

China uses only SIM cards. You buy and use. There is no 'plan'

Take it or leave it.

[choudoufu]

tributary be mesteaken:

there are plans available, although not the one-year plans
you may be used to.

stop by a china mobile or china telecom shop. look through the
brochures. all sorts of plans are available. you'll normally buy a
sim card that you can use with most phones that will be part of
a 'plan.' disposable/throwaway cards are available if you prefer.

i don't know whether your phone will work (i assume
it would), but i guess it may not have the software to display
or send chinese character texts.

for example, i paid 100 rmb for my card. the card and setup
(if i recall rightly) were 50 rmb, leaving a credit of 50 rmb for
the card. the plan i purchased will cost me 20 rmb per month,
and includes 300 text messages. another 5 rmb/month for
caller id. there are various rates for in-province and out-of-
province calls. incoming calls and texts are free.

every 6-8 weeks china mobile sends me a text to let me know
my balance is under 30 rmb. my balance can be recharged at
any china mobile store, sometimes at the atm-like machines.

there are (sometimes) yearly plans available. i signed up for an
annual deal a few years ago for 600 rmb. that covered one
year's service, plus some (i forget) amount of calls per month,
plus a free phone.

[clownshow]

I also have a 20 rmb plan in-which all incoming local calls are free and the text messages are also free.... they send a message when I am under 10 rmb and several times a year they send a number which if called will extend a free credit gift of 50 or more RMB...

the best deal though is the local in town network which is accessed from a special phone sold only for this area and is really cost effective..

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

China used to use only SIM cards. But now some places can offer plans.

Take it or ask a Chinese friend who knows more about it.

[Laurence]

I think most people here use a pre-pay phone account,

whereby you pay for call time...

...now get this:


you pay for call time

before

you actually use it!


Then - bear with me - when you have used all the minutes/SMS that you have paid for... you buy more, ready to use!


Usually Americans have a hard time adjusting to this model
because their finances are usually based on buying things (like phone credit, or a house) using money not yet earned.


*ominous rumble of crumbling foundations*

[clownshow]

Most of the plans are still prepay...

[flyingscotsman]

China Mobile and China Unicom do indeed have MANY plans - we just don't know about it. MANY Chinese have different types of plans as do many businesses in China- Imagine a businessman in China losing phone service because he needs to run and put 50 coins on his phone - doesn't happen, they have a plan for payment and calls.

For us visitors, we use the simple plans. PREY PAY

If you want 3G speed then choose China Unicom. If Internet on your phone doesn't matter use China Mobile.

Each has different plans, PRE-PAY for us - unless you are working for a large company then they should have a plan and will provide you with a corporate sim that's billed directly to them.

My plan for my Iphone4 runs about $10 us a month - a bargain really.

[flyingscotsman]

[askiptochina]

There's also online surfing and program (like QQ) usage. I would be interested in finding out about the costs involved for using this as it seems like it would be cheaper than calling or using SMS.

Today I picked up a new cell phone and have been testing it. I was able to go on the internet and also check my email. However, along with a few short phone calls, I found my SIM credit went from 51 RMB to 34.

So, it seems like maybe a third piece to this puzzle is using WLAN. This I understand is free, but how accessible is the next question. At my old school students and teachers could use it, but now I am at a public school most of the time and the training school is mostly for kindy classes (which I luckily don't have to teach).

[Mr. English]

China Mobile has many, many plans. They also have a call center with some decent English speakers who can explain the plans to you. I know their English level because I have trained some of them. Call 10086. They also have "specials" every month, stuff like buy some time now and get some extra. Call 10086 to get information on those, too.

[clownshow]

[choudoufu]

oh, man, i almost forgot about bozo. i got to be in the audience
during a studio taping of his show when i was in grade school.

it was either a wonderful experience, or i was scarred for life.
i'm not sure. maybe i'm repressing memories. anyway, don't
remember much of the program. all i remember is we lost the
tickets somehow....they slipped between the seat cushions of
our white dodge station wagon on the way to the studio...but
they let us in anyway.

aside from bozo, the only clown i respect would be krusty.

[Little Tiger]

[featherp]

oiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii the subject is mobile phones not bloody clowns