Korean Job Discussion Forums

[sethzor]

Hi,

I saw some stuff online about KT offering prepaid mobile phone plans that you normally need an ARC for, to anyone with a passport for up to 90 days. Anyone know if that's legit and if they still do that? As using my own phone would be a lot more convenient than having to rent one, nevermind not having to worry about it breaking down or something and then having to replace it etc.

[soomin]

The only thing I've seen is the possibility to rent a phone at a very high rate... but even then, you needed someone to vouch for you. If you don't have an ARC, there's no legal record of you or way for the company to find you should you run away with their phone. Also, if you don't have an ARC, you don't have a Korean bank account... I'd be wary of anything like that, imho

[sethzor]

Sorry, my op wasn't clear enough -- I don't mean getting a mobile phone itself from KT, just a call / data plan with a sim card to put into my phone. Apparently you do need to have an ARC to continue using it, but you can use a prepaid plan for up to 90 days without one, I've been told. Supposedly it's straight from KT stores and stuff so it's not like it's some shady side-alley scam, but I'm not in Korea at the moment so no way to check if it's actually true. :p

[Jake_Kim]

So your phone is of 3G protocol or higher using SIM card, but not bought from KT or in Korea to begin with.
That's okay, there's no legal barrier anymore, KT accepts a 'waiver form' through here while laying out T&C: http://shop.olleh.com/ollehshop/Cellphone/Globalbuy.jsp?brandType=GA0 (in Korean)

The actual menu for ordering a prepaid USIM card is at: http://shop.olleh.com/weblogic/CellphoneDetailServlet?product_code=3006586 (in Korean)

But have you also double-checked if the uplink/downlink frequencies of your phone are compatible with those of KT as well?

[sethzor]

I'm not 100% sure about it. :p I heard 2100mhz WCDMA should work? It's an S2 Galaxy, supposedly it supports that but yeah, I'm not exactly an expert on the question and any info about this online is surprisingly scarce and often contradicting...

[Jake_Kim]

KT's 3G does indeed work at 2.1GHz, based on WCDMA HSDPA protocol.

Samsung Galaxy S2 variant specifically customized to KT (SHW-M250K) gives its tech spec for WCDMA as TX: 1922.8 ~ 1977.2 MHz RX: 2112.8 ~ 2167.2 MHz, frequency precision is +/-200Hz (all figures were taken from SHW-M250K official manual)

[Troglodyte]

I'm not sure about what KT itself offers, but it also comes down to whether or not the individual store that you go into is willing to sell a prepaid phone to you without an ARC. They can all do it. I've bought them. Most shops just don't want to sell them.

Alternatively, there are other small mobile providers that specialize in prepaid. The shops that they work with often specialize in second hand phones as well. If you're in Itaewon, you can find about half a dozen second hand, prepaid shops. They usually ask for your passport (or someone's ID).

[sho]