Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Whistleblower]

Hello all. I have had the great chance to be the receiver of such a great phone from a friend. He works for Samsung in Germany and he gave me a Samsung Haptic phone (the European model). It isn't exactly the same as the Korean model but it has the touch screen, internet browser, camera etc but not the tilt added to the Korean model (Europeans didn't like that) but I don't mind. A phone is just for making and receiving calls at the end of the day.



Anyways, I am wanting to get this phone working in Korea. Does anyone know the process of unlocking this phone and getting it to work with a telephone provider? I need to get a Sim Card so would that be too much difficulty? I would like to get a package for this phone so does anyone recommend any mobile phone provider (SK, Anycall, etc)?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[CentralCali]

I thought Korean cell phones used CDMA. Isn't that different than a SIM?

[Scotticus]

[ttompatz]

The Korean market is CLOSED. You have 3 choices.

Use it as an expensive alarm clock.

Use your phone as a "global roaming phone" from another country (with the 2nd country's sim)

Get a new phone because that one CANNOT have a Korean number (it is NOT allowed). Foreign market phones are NOT allowed to be registered and have Korean numbers.

[jetrash]

nice!
oh,have they been copying i phones?

did they give steve jobs a ton of cash for copying it,badly.
maybe they forgot.


any phone(even a korean brand)from the european market,you will not be able to register and get a number for here.

its called protectionism...

and as we can see..it works one way.

nb. please don,t give money to samsung, or buy their products.
they are corrupt criminals,and steal from hard working ordinary koreans.

[Whistleblower]

Well it was a free present so I don't mind if it can't be used here. I shall probably hold on to it till I can use it abroad. I could always sell it on eBay but it is a limited tester that was used for production and testing in Europe.

[Ut videam]

ttompatz is mostly right, but the carriers here are taking some baby steps toward opening their networks and phones. Caveat: this only applies to their 3G networks, and thus only covers SK and KTF (since LG Telecom hasn't built a 3G network). As of last month, SK and KTF users with 3G phones can swap their USIM card into another phone�but only intra-carrier: SK to SK, KTF to KTF, etc. Supposedly at some point this summer they'll take the next step and totally unlock the USIMs, allowing users to switch phones AND networks while keeping their phone numbers and phone books.

For the OP, what all this means is that if your phone is a 3G phone (not 2.5G GSM/EDGE, which I believe is still the most common network technology in Europe), you may be able to get a Korean USIM for it now or in the not-too-distant future. Maybe.

[Whistleblower]

Thanks for the advice Ut videam, I am going to SK Company this morning with the wife to check out the possibility of unlocking/using the phone in Korea. It would be nice to use it in Korea and it was a present from a good friend. I would hate to part with it, but I would be willing to wait this year to be able to use it.

Also I shall be heading into Gangnam with a work colleague to figure out whether someone could get it working in Korea. It is a shame that we can't use phones that we have bought in Europe and not use them in Korea. In an ideal world, all mobiles would be used no matter where you bought it.