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I'm of the latter variety: use it until it ends. It wasn't a Kindle, but another country's prepaid SIM that I continued using while in Japan. Phone companies i
by peterburkimsher 5y ago
I'm of the latter variety: use it until it ends.
It wasn't a Kindle, but another country's prepaid SIM that I continued using while in Japan. Phone companies in Japan don't do prepaid: only phone rentals by the day, or 2 year subscriptions. Neither of those were suitable for the 2 months I lived there.
Some international SIM cards would run out of balance and send an SMS as a warning. But others would redirect me to a topup page. Let's just say that wasn't the only page that was available, and the "send this page to a friend" email function is very convenient when Japanese phones have incoming email addresses for sending email-to-SMS.
Google calendar used to be a great way to get free email-to-RSS-to-SMS notifications, but that shut down a couple of years ago unfortunately.
- koyote 5y ago> Phone companies in Japan don't do prepaid In case you ever go back: https://www.bmobile.ne.jp/english/ https://www.bmobile.ne.jp/english/ I've used this on several trips and it works well. Unless of course you were living there more permanently, in which case the above is not useful.
- peterburkimsher 5y agoPrepaid where the credit expires after 21 days sounds more like a subscription that lasts 3 weeks and cancels safely. With my current prepaid SIM, I typically top up $5 every 3 months. Between iMessage, WhatsApp/WeChat/KakaoTalk/Skype/Facebook, free incoming calls, and the occasional emergency SMS, I usually don't need a phone. People don't like it when I don't have a local number though.
- rudian 5y agoAre you saying you have a $5/3mo SIM that allows roaming in Japan? Details please? That's cheaper than most plans in any country, let alone roaming.
- peterburkimsher 5y agoI don't, sorry! That's how much I use on a prepaid SIM card now in New Zealand, and is typical for my (very low) phone usage.
- unishark 5y agoI think they're just adding the minimum amount to prevent the minutes expiring and the phone subsequently being cancelled, which I assume happens after 3 months. They would still have to typical rates pay per minute or MB for any usage.
- peterburkimsher 5y agoI add the minimum. In many countries (Switzerland, UK, New Zealand) the minutes don't expire, and the number is mine to keep unless it doesn't connect to a network at all for a year or more. Yes, I pay per minute for outgoing calls, or MB of usage - and those costs are high. That's why I try to use WiFi whenever possible, and use offline maps, offline Wikipedia, etc. https://www.cable.co.uk/mobiles/worldwide-data-pricing/ https://www.cable.co.uk/mobiles/worldwide-data-pricing/
- 3np 5y ago> Phone companies in Japan don't do prepaid: only phone rentals by the day, or 2 year subscriptions. Prepaid data (sans voice/SMS) have been easily accessible at reasonable prices for at least 6 years; they are now ubiquitous and can be bought at electronics stores, airports, and the occasional convenience store. These days the 2y term requirement only applies when you get a plan with a subsidized smartphone or pocket wifi. Though you still need (IIRC) 6 month min on your stay for any subscription, so prepaid or rental is the only way if you stay for shorter. High-speed LTE data is cheap and available but SMS/voice is nigh impossible for non-long-term-residents (which is extra problematic given how practically everything/everyone in Japan assume you can provide a Japanese voice number they can call, and LINE does age verification through your mobile provider).