Korean Job Discussion Forums

[boatofcar]

With the 3G iPhones probably around the corner, I was thinking about snagging a used current-gen unlocked model on the cheap, if I could use it here.

Um...can I do that? Forgive my ignorance, I don't know anything about cell phones.

[DCJames]

[pkang0202]

You can pick up an iPhone, jailbreak it and get the VOIP application so you can make VOIP calls anywhere you have a wireless hotspot.

[Chris_Dixon]

Korea's on the cdma network and the iphones work on the other network don't they. the vodaphone one....

[Steffie183]

The iPhone is supposed to be coming out at the end of this year. They need to do some changes to make it work here, the CDMA network compatibility. Just wait. I wouldn't trust anyone here to know how to make it work on their network if it were possible.

[Ut videam]

Korea's 2G/2.5G networks all use CDMA technology. The current generation iPhone uses GSM technology, i.e., "the other one." In addition, Korean networks are completely closed: you can ONLY use a Korean phone on them.

SK Telecom's and KTF's 3G networks, however, may be a different story. (LG Telecom has not rolled out a 3G network, and to my knowledge has no plans to do so.) They are compliant with the WCDMA/UMTS standard (essentially 3G GSM), which is the same standard that the biggest carriers in the US, Canada, and Europe are using. I know for a fact, for instance, that an American 3G phone can roam successfully on South Korean 3G networks.

Further, the Korean carriers are in the process of SIM-unlocking their 3G phones: at present, it's possible to swap your USIM into another phone from the same carrier, e.g. I could upgrade my SK phone to another SK phone by just sticking my current USIM into the new phone. Later this summer (supposedly) they will take the next step, allowing users to swap their SIMs into different carriers' phones. In theory, this would allow someone to buy an (as yet nonexistent/unannounced) unlocked 3G iPhone, stick their SK or KTF USIM into it, and voila! iPhone in Korea.

But, for now... the current generation iPhone does not and will never work in Korea. Save your money.

.

[moosehead]

I was in Taiwan a couple of months ago and met up w/some Indian businessmen who were shopping for iPhones there in Taipei - apparently there's a huge market there for the unlocked ones, even businesses are springing up just on unlocking the phones (!) they showed me a store where you could buy them unlocked, they were rampant. One of the fellows told me no one would buy them locked anymore, it wasn't worth it.

He showed me one and how it worked, was straight out of Minority Report the film, the technology is awesome.