Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jammo]

hello

i have a contract iphone that im hoping to bring with me (and unlock?) to seoul. how easy will it be to use over there?

im in a similar predicament to this poster

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=555029

but that post is a bit old.

anyone have any ideas about my issue? or is it a lost cause


thanks

[Temporary]

Answer NO.

Don't bother asking why.

Or you can use the search feature on the forum.

[ppcg4]

Read here:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=455234

And here:

http://mikeinkorea.wordpress.com/2008/09/24/no-iphone-for-me-also-a-stern-up-yours-to-ktf-lg-and-show/

This is my experience trying to get my 3G iPhone working here. It's just not going to happen. The phone companies limit the phones that can connect to their network. By limit, I mean that you can only use 'approved' phones. Sure you can roam here, for a hefty 3,000 won per minute. Don't even ask about data fees. My phone bill was about $800 for one month of use in Korea, and I downloaded about 5mb, and made about 20 minutes of voice calls.

My 3G iPhone is unlocked, and when I put my friend's SIM in, and try to connect to a network, it says "restricted network". Note that there is no pin on her SIM.

Rumors abound about iPhone coming to Korea, but if I were you I'd bring it, use it as an iPod touch (with GPS), and settle for a shitty Korean phone.

They have iPhone lookalikes here, and I've tried many. They suck. You have to use your fingernails to touch the screen (kind of like a touch GPS screen), and it doesn't integrate with iTunes.

Here's hoping for some good news in the future. I'd love to be able to use this thing as a phone.

[keseki]

3G iphone is coming...should be here in the spring.

[Chris_Dixon]

didnt click the link in the thread, but korea is one of the few cdma networks, i dont think they can have them here without changing the whole network??

[jammo]

thanks for the information
anyone in london after a contract iphone pm me.
im cheaper

[ppcg4]

[jammo]

ok thats an interesting comment. can the previous posters confirm that they were talking about a 3G iphone?


thanks

[ppcg4]

I waited at the mall starting at 5:30am on launch day in Canada. Trust me, it's the 3G.

[smogdonkey]

WIPI go bye-bye on April 1, foreign phone companies who had previously said 'screw that' to altering their phones just for the Korean network (ie Apple, Nokia, Blackberry) will be in the markets here at that time.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/12/133_35873.html

So theoretically you should be able to unlock your 3g ipony and use it at that time? Honestly, somehow I doubt it here... Nothing works that smoothly. The guy at a KTF shop said it would cost between 300-400,000 won, which I will believe when I see.

[dark_cly]

in my opinion since your Iphone is 3g I think it should work at Korea, even though Korea use CDMA technology for mobile phone as long as it has 3g ability it will work along with through the network.

[smogdonkey]

[jammo]

interesting. i still havent gotten rid of the phone.

am leaving for seoul in 3 weeks.


can anyone confirm the previous 2 posters to be correct?


thanks for the info guys

[TekkaManBladeX]

Korea uses a different system. No GSM here. It's all CDMA and HSDPA.

The iPhone should be coming in after April but that'll be in a different flavor. Plus the tranmission frequencies are probably different as well.

[NoExplode]