Cellphones

I managed to lose the thread on sim cards. I%26#39;m not an cellphone person, I think I have only used mine four times, I keep forgetting how! But my wife and son are quite keen to keep in touch while in Hong Kong -- just in case someone gets lost. However not all cellphones here work on the sim card. Would it be possible to buy cheap ';throw away'; cellphones in Hong Kong in order to get round this? What would be a reasonable price? Or maybe it would be better to buy a good one and bring it home, in that case the question arises would it work once it got home?

Cellphones

NOt sure if this helps. We leave in a week and wanted to take mobile phones to keep in touch International roaming on our phones is too expensive. My phone has a sim card and is unlocked. I bought my husband a cheap new phone on ebay for $58AU for a Nokia plus postage. It is also unlocked but has no bells or whistles ( camera, radio etc). He also needed a new one and we do not require the additional extras. New one has arrived and works great. We will be buying a sim card in HK. Could you ask friends if they have an old unlocked phone? Many people change theirs because they are not fancy enough and not because they are faling. Don%26#39;t know the New Zealnd network though

Cellphones

Now I know I%26#39;m not a cellphone person. I haven%26#39;t a clue what unlocked means. Don%26#39;t get me started on the system here, it%26#39;s a duopoly with absolutely no interest in competition. We probably have the most expensive cellphone calling in the developed world.

(about $4HK per minute I think)That%26#39;s one reason why I couldn%26#39;t be bothered getting one for years. As I understand it, you say buy a cellphone that works on sim cards and get a card for it in Hong Kong. We may in fact do that, I think mine does have a sim card, because it%26#39;s Vodafone. It might be possible to just take that as well. It has absolutely no bells and whistles and cost me $20 brand new, but it does the job. Thanks.

Assuming your are in New Zealand, they have both GSM (sim card) and CDMA(no sim card) systems. I suppose you have a GSM phone, it shouold work in HK. A CDMA phone will not work in HK.

If you SIM card phone is unlocked (call your own network and ask if you can use a foreign sim card on the phone), you just need to buy a SIM card in HK.

All phones in HK are sold at full retail, since you are not signing a contract. Cheapest brand new namebrand phone starts from 400HKD, and can be used virtually worldwide.

If you bought your phone from Vodafone for $20, I am pretty sure it%26#39;s locked and therefore cannot be used with a HK SIM card, unless you unlock it.

Oh, so that%26#39;s what locked means. Okay, it%26#39;s the bottom of the range motorola which were given out to people who helped with the census, who were allowed to buy them for $20 afterwards. So hope yet exists. Thank you for the information, I will ring Vodafone and ask them. Otherwise, and I suspect my wife and son will do this anyway, we%26#39;ll buy something in Hong Kong. Do we go to a department store? Or those little tiny shops that I%26#39;m not very keen on? Or does it not matter?

Hi, NZ cellular network works on GSM900 %26amp; 1800(known in industry as the 2G),which is operated by Northelia and Vodafone.

In addition,Vodafone in NZ also has the 3G,where operating frequency is 2100.

Similarly in HK, the cellular network operators operates in similar frequency as NZ%26#39;s.

If your cellphone does not work on the SIM card,i.e. it is locked to either Northelia or Vodafone,then you will not be able to use it in HK,unless,you go on international roaming,of which the call charges(and SMS) could be exorbitant(your NZ%26#39;s network operator dependent)

Now, if you were to purchase a no frill handset in HK, which allows use of SIM card,and that back in NZ,you can get a new SIM card,then you will be able to use the handset,as network frequency in HK is similar to that of NZ.

However, a problem arises,when you need to recharge the battery,though voltage and operating cycle(Hz.)in NZ is similar to HK,but the power socket is different,as in HK,most are of the three pronged pins,whereas in NZ,is the oblique flat blades with ground(inverted V),so you may need to get a adapter.

Otherwise,upon arrival at HKIA airport, you can also rent a cellular.

Lastly, CDMA works in HK,this is 3G,which is basically abbreviation for Code Division Multiple Access,which uses code division multiple access technology over a wide frequency band,basically it is built upon the same core network infrastructure for the GSM 900,that many of us are familiar with,viz.2G.

In HK,there are even machines,besides selling the prepaid SIM cards,is also no frill handphone.

To get a general idea of cellular prices in HK, here is a website:- http://www.ringhk.com/price.php

Try going to Ap Liu St,however in these places,items are priced according to your facial expression, accent, and size of your wallet.Or the reputable chain stores of Fortress or Broadway.

Uh... the term ';CDMA'; refers to 2G, mainly used in North America and a handful of other countries. CDMA service is soon to be turned off in HK. 3G in HK is W-CDMA. CDMA is *not* the same as W-CDMA. Please visit 3 HK%26#39;s website(the only CDMA provider in HK) and notice they have 3 different services - 3G, Dual Band(GSM) and CDMA. Their CDMA lineup is 1 phone that doesn%26#39;t support data/wap. What%26#39;s 3G without data transmission?

If you don%26#39;t want to be ripped off, buy your phone only from major chain electronics stores(search on the forum), manufacturer showrooms, or network provider shops. Do NOT ever buy from small shops in the famous phone mall ';Sin Tat'; or Apliu St, or most other places. They are known for selling grey market, refurbished, re-contructed, stolen phones with counterfeit parts and accessories.

Regarding unlocking in an Australian context. It is getting technical for me. I took my phone to Vodafone and asked if it was unlocked. The man said that he didn%26#39;t think so as it was not a modael they sold but the best way to check it was to borrow someone else%26#39;s sim card from another network and see if you can ring in and out when you have placed it in yours. In Australia you can go the vodafone website and ask if it is unlocked by typing in the serial number. You will then get a reply. Are you using the same sim card as the census provided? I am assuming it was cheap because they were surplus phones not needed after the census.

My sister%26#39;s Vodafone NZ GSM phone worked with a HK People SIM card. In addition she had a Telecom NZ CDMA phone and was suprised that she was able to send and receive sms messages to and from NZ - we were in HK at the beginning of the year.

We have purchased new but not the latest model GSM phones (one 4 years ago and one 2 years ago) from Ap Liu St for use in Australia and haven%26#39;t had any problems so far.

If you are interested in local calls only try the $28 People SIM card if you can find a place to buy one.

Of course if your CDMA phone happens to work in HK, you will be paying costly roaming minutes.