Korean Job Discussion Forums

EricB · Joined: 08 Sep 2007

I am thinking of grabbing a Sony Ericsson w950i which is GSM and UMTS 2100. Is it possible to go to an SK office and have them activate this phone on my calling plan? The phone is unlocked and I've heard that people have successfully roamed with it in Korea, but I've heard nothing about using it on a Korean calling plan.
Anyone have experience with foreign UMTS 2100 phones in Korea?

dreadster · Joined: 08 May 2007 Location: Daegu, South Korea

I've been on exactly the same quest with my Nokia E90 (also UMTS) since coming to Korea five months ago.

The short answer is no. Yes, you can roam with these phones in Korea assuming your carrier has a roaming agreement with SKT or KTF, but it's not possible to use these phones on a local contract. I tried swapping out a friend's SIM card here to put in my phone and it just said 'unregistered SIM card' and it wouldn't work.

The reason is that SIM cards (not phones) are locked to phones from certain carriers. Either you would have to get your phone registered at the Ministry of Communications - which I believe is possible but costs $100 or more - or you would have to find some way to 'unlock' the SIM cards, something I'm not sure is easily done!!!

The Korean telecom industry is really overprotected; however, I gather this is going to change in 2008. They are going to remove all the protection on SIM cards so that people can swap it into whatever phone they want. Don't hold your breath though on that one...

I'm still hoping that I'll find some dodgy backstreet dealer who'll know how to get round these regulatory niceties, but so far no luck. At the moment, my phone's operating as just a very expensive PDA.