Job Discussion Forums

[Incognito]

I'm guessing the answer is "no" but I have to ask. Will the cell phone that I purchased in Korea function in Saudi Arabia?

[scot47]

You will need to change the SIM Card (whatever that is). Take it one of the thousands of shops deling with cell phone junkies.

[Arab Strap]

All depends on whether your mobile is blocked to other sim cards and also what voltage the charger needs (two outputs here 110v and 220v).

You might need to get your iqamma (Saudi ID) first before you can buy a sim card. Depending on your employer this can take up to two or three weeks.

It's possible to get a sim card under the table or through someone who has an iqamma.

I was told when I got here I couldn't get a sim card without an iqamma and I managed to get it sorted on my first day.............

[Incognito]

Approx. price of a sim card?

[Arab Strap]

approx: 200-250SAR..............depending on how much credit you want. You'll also pay more for 'easy to remember numbers' if you get your SIM on the black market.

There are two providers and I know through Mobily you can only send sms' to T-Mobile, not Vodaphone in Europe.

Another cheaper alternative is to use Net2phone through your computer and internet connection. For a 30SAR card you can talk to the USA and UK for over two hours.

Where are you heading by the way?

[dmb]

[Tomton]

There are two operators, Mobily and Sawa. Mobily charges SR150 for the SIM card but this gives you SR150 of calls making the card effectively free. The charge for the Sawa SIM card is SR200 with no free credit. If you use pay as you go then Mobily is cheaper for national and international calls.

[Incognito]

Well, color me ignorant, but I obviously have no concept of "sim cards." ( I tried googling it, but that just caused me more confusion.) It sounds as if I will have to have a component replaced in my phone. Is this right?

Here in Korea, I simply purchase a "pay as you go" calling card if I want to call both locally and internationally. If I indeed need to have a component replaced, it sounds strange to me that it would come with calling minutes included.

Also, I am concerned about my phone being (or not being) compatible with the Saudi cell system. For example, when I moved to Korea, my U.S. purchased phone would not function in/with the Korean cell system.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Incognito]

[Mohammad]

If your phone is GSM, you'll be OK. A sim card is a chip supplied by the network you use and it is external. I hope this helps.

[Stephen Jones]

If the phone is GSM and not tied to a carrier the answer is yes; it will work with no problem.

If it's CDMA you're out of luck.

[Arab Strap]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIM_card

I'm not at all technically minded and the above link doesn't make much sense to me either (at least have a look at the picture) but I've a feeling a

"pay as you go" calling card

is the same thing.

I'm sure someone out there has recently moved from Korea to KSA and they'll be able to give you a better idea of what does and doesn't work.

For what it's worth the wife's and my own Nokias (bought in the Czech Republic) work fine here.

However you might find that if your phone uses 220V and you don't have a 220V outlet where you end up staying (quite likely), you'll have to buy a cumbersome, heavy transformer which will cost you up to 70SAR.............

At the end of the day, unless you're watching every single halala, you're better off buying a mobile here (cheapest and most basic Nokia will cost you 120-150SAR).

Anyroadup that's my 2 bob's worth...............

[Stephen Jones]

It appears you are out of luck. Korea is CDMA.
http://kropla.com/mobilephones.htm

[Stephen Jones]

[Mohammad]

I think you should just purchase a Nokia 1100 when you get there. It will cost you around �20.00.