cell phone purchase and service in HK

Hi. This is for an someone old fashioned living in HK. I was told that cell
service in HK provides free international long distance and we would like to
get him a cell phone. We don't expect him to use this phone much at all but
we would like to be able to call in.

Would any HK locals care to recommend where to get this service and how much
it would cost? The more specific the information the better.

Also, how much and where for a one-time use phone with GSM with enough
minutes for 2 weeks of service anywhere in HK/China? Would we need a local
credit card?

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

On Sun, 26 Oct 2003 20:21:33 GMT, "just me"
wrote:

Hi. This is for an someone old fashioned living in HK. I was told that cell
service in HK provides free international long distance and we would like to
get him a cell phone. We don't expect him to use this phone much at all but
we would like to be able to call in.

Would any HK locals care to recommend where to get this service and how much
it would cost? The more specific the information the better.

Also, how much and where for a one-time use phone with GSM with enough
minutes for 2 weeks of service anywhere in HK/China? Would we need a local
credit card?

Thanks in advance for your assistance.


I don't know where you heard that international long-distance calls
from HK cell phones are free, because its not true.

I was in HK last week and bought a 'sunday' prepay card.. was
something like 8 euro for 120 mins of talking time (within HK). You
can also receive calls on it, but it will go from those 120 mins..

Alex


On Sun, 26 Oct 2003 20:21:33 GMT, "just me"
wrote:

Hi. This is for an someone old fashioned living in HK. I was told that cell
service in HK provides free international long distance and we would like to
get him a cell phone. We don't expect him to use this phone much at all but
we would like to be able to call in.

Would any HK locals care to recommend where to get this service and how much
it would cost? The more specific the information the better.

Also, how much and where for a one-time use phone with GSM with enough
minutes for 2 weeks of service anywhere in HK/China? Would we need a local
credit card?

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Being a frequent traveller to HK, I use a HK SmarTone sim card in my UK
unlocked Motorola V50. Costs HKG$100 to buy, but you get HKG$100 free
calling credit with it. Plus if you top up to the value of $100, you get $10
bonus, and $40 bonus if you top up by $200. The sims are valid for 180 days,
but you can keep them active by topping up online
http://www.smartone.com.hk/ . The initial HKG$100 has lasted me 3 visits so
far, so the call charges are pretty good. Unlike sunday, you don't get
charged for incoming calls. SmarTone also has int'l roaming, IDD, SMS,
VoiceMail, etc as standard.

please reply via group, email address is fake.

--

"Alex" wrote in message
...
I was in HK last week and bought a 'sunday' prepay card.. was
something like 8 euro for 120 mins of talking time (within HK). You
can also receive calls on it, but it will go from those 120 mins..

Alex

"just me" wrote in message ...
Hi. This is for an someone old fashioned living in HK. I was told that cell
service in HK provides free international long distance and we would like to
get him a cell phone. We don't expect him to use this phone much at all but
we would like to be able to call in.

Would any HK locals care to recommend where to get this service and how much
it would cost? The more specific the information the better.

Also, how much and where for a one-time use phone with GSM with enough
minutes for 2 weeks of service anywhere in HK/China? Would we need a local
credit card?

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

If you have a GSM cell phone from Canada (Rogers AT&T) vacationing in
Hong kong, what needs to be done in order to use your cell in
HongKong? or Is there cheaper to rent or 1-time phone or any other
options is appreciated.

On 27 Oct 2003 08:53:30 -0800, the renowned (joe)
wrote:

If you have a GSM cell phone from Canada (Rogers AT&T) vacationing in
Hong kong, what needs to be done in order to use your cell in
HongKong?

Call them to make sure international use is enabled, when you get to
HK two or three carriers should come up on the phone, pick one
(actually, one will come up and you can either use it or pick another
one). At least that's how it works with Microcell.

or Is there cheaper to rent or 1-time phone or any other
options is appreciated.

Don't know about one-time, but most of the phones are SP locked so
unless you have it unlocked or bought it from other than the SP, you
can't just pop a smart card in there and use your phone directly on
another service. Mine is unlocked but I've not bothered... check out
the rates, international calls (including incoming) can get pretty
expensive, particularly from/to China.

Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com

"just me" wrote in message
...
Hi. This is for an someone old fashioned living in HK. I was told that
cell
service in HK provides free international long distance and we would like
to
get him a cell phone. We don't expect him to use this phone much at all
but
we would like to be able to call in.

International long distance from HK phones are definitely not free, but it's
very inexpensive since deregulation. However, international calls to phones
from HK are free to the HK phones, except for the cell phone minutes.


Would any HK locals care to recommend where to get this service and how
much
it would cost? The more specific the information the better.

Phone companies are practically at every street corner. We went to one in a
subway station. You can buy minutes without having to sign up for a
contract.


Also, how much and where for a one-time use phone with GSM with enough
minutes for 2 weeks of service anywhere in HK/China? Would we need a
local
credit card?

I think about HK$1 per minute if you just buy the minute and not sign up for
a contract. This only applies to HK, does not include China. You can pay
by cash if you want.


Thanks in advance for your assistance.

If you have a GSM cell phone from Canada (Rogers AT&T) vacationing in
Hong kong, what needs to be done in order to use your cell in
HongKong? or Is there cheaper to rent or 1-time phone or any other
options is appreciated.

HK has the European standards of 900 and/or 1800 MHz. I do not know about
Canada, but I believe that GSM is 1900 MHz. Unless you have CDMA, in which
case you probably don't even have a SIM card.

You can buy cheap 900 and/or 1800 phones nowadays for much less than US$100.
Renting will probably proof expensive.

ES

Sunnyfield wrote:
If you have a GSM cell phone from Canada (Rogers AT&T) vacationing in
Hong kong, what needs to be done in order to use your cell in
HongKong? or Is there cheaper to rent or 1-time phone or any other
options is appreciated.


HK has the European standards of 900 and/or 1800 MHz. I do not know about
Canada, but I believe that GSM is 1900 MHz. Unless you have CDMA, in which
case you probably don't even have a SIM card.

You can buy cheap 900 and/or 1800 phones nowadays for much less than US$100.
Renting will probably proof expensive.

ES



GSM is 900 and 1800 MHz and 1900 MHz. In Canada you have the 1900
handsets, so you need either a tri-band handset (I remember some
motorolas and nokias) or take your gsm SIM card with you and stick it
into a HK dual band ("normal") handset.

Mind that roaming in a foreign network may be expensive. It is safe to
assume that your network has a roaming (commercial) agreement with at
least one of the HK GSM networks.

Too right - a short walk around Central will see many street vendors
desperate to sell you mobile phones.

Also, if your a frequent traveller to HK or short-term resident, you can buy
second-hand unlocked mobiles at really cheap prices, especially in Mong
Kok/Nathan Rd areas, but *beware* and always ask to try these with a sim
card/check they actually work before buying. I've bought a few Nokia 6100's,
all working like a dream, and sold them on here in the UK.


Phone companies are practically at every street corner. We went to one in
a
subway station. You can buy minutes without having to sign up for a
contract.