Japanese iPhone in Singapore

Hi all. Will be going to Singapore soon, and I am wondering about the possibility of using a local SIM card over there. I have never done anything like this. Never even touched my SIM card. Has anyone dealt with buying Singaporean SIM cards and using them over there? If this proves too difficult, I will look into renting a cheap keitai while over there. Anyone have any information on that? Thanks in advance.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Doug Lerner on November 20, 2011 at 10:29am

Unless you've managed to unlock your iPhone, which is very difficult if not impossible these days, your SoftBank-purchased iPhone cannot use the SIM card from another carrier.

doug

Permalink Reply by EddieT on November 20, 2011 at 11:07am

Thanks, Doug. Yeah, after googling around a bit this is the answer I got too. Guess I was pretty clueless.

I suppose I could just turn off data roaming and use the phone part of the iPhone. It's expensive per minute, but probably cheaper than buying a cheap phone in Singapore. Only use for emergencies.

Permalink Reply by Futsukayoi on November 20, 2011 at 12:50pm

There's now a cap on how much you're charged with the Global Roaming Flat Packet Rate.

Permalink Reply by EddieT on November 20, 2011 at 1:17pm

Yeah, I saw that. It keeps the bill from getting insanely expensive, but it's still a bit high for me. I'll just use the phone part of my iPhone. Save the data stuff for when I'm in a hot spot. Too bad the global flat rate went back up to 1,980. Was 1,480 for a while, wasn't it? And I'm a little confused by the 2,980 rate. What's that for?

Permalink Reply by Futsukayoi on November 20, 2011 at 1:20pm

Yup. It went up. I'm not sure on the 2,980 rate. As usual, it's confusing.

Permalink Reply by Doug Lerner on November 20, 2011 at 1:22pm

I was just about to ask the same question. How can they say it is "unlimited at 1,980 yen/day" and then say it's up to 2,980 yen/day if you exceed 25 MB?

doug

Permalink Reply by 16thnotes on November 20, 2011 at 9:11pm

I used an unlocked iPhone 4 from HK in Singapore with a SIM from the Singapore airport. I think it was by StarHub and about $25 Singapore Dollars. Was only there for two days, but had lots of data and voice more than I could ever use.

If your iPhone's not unlocked, I assume you could still use your iPad if you have one with a prepaid SIM Singapore SIM.

Permalink Reply by Doug Lerner on November 20, 2011 at 9:16pm

Yes, you can use a Japanese-bought iPad overseas. And you can use an overseas-bought iPad in Japan, if you can get a SIM card for it. The iPads are not carrier locked (though there is talk that they are carrier locked just within Japan, between Japan carriers - I've never known if anybody ever tried that though).