Foreign CDMA handsets on US Carriers?

As has been mentioned here way too many times, buying a phone from one provider and having it activated by another is usually impossible regardless of where you buy the phone in the first place.

You also need to make sure that the FREQUENCIES of any foreign phone are correct for the US. And finally consider that any device that transmits radio waves in the US -- including especially cell phones -- must be certified/approved by the FCC. It is unlikely that many of the phones available only overseas have been certified to work in the US. All the carrier is going to do when you show up with it in hand is look it up in their database. If he doesn't see the phone listed, he is probably not going to look any further. Only the manufacturer can tell you if the phone actually is certified/approved for use in the US. There will and must be a sticker on the phone giving the registration information! No sticker, the carrier won't touch it! The carrier is responsible for all the phones activated on its network. They cannot allow you to use a phone that is not approved by the FCC.

Also with overseas phones you should understand that if the US carrier doesn't sell or service that phone they probably don't have the programming capability for it. They might not even be able to connect it to their computer to enter the phone number, SID code, or the other features that will make it operate. Every carrier has their own variant of the phone's software (if for no other purpose than to make the banner read correclty and to make it search for the correct deafult network type) that must be installed before it will work.

As for the PRL, OTA, and WAP :: those are standards of the CDMA or other protocols and will be the same no matter where you use the phone. SMS differs between the carriers, but is very similar everywhere. For OTA, if the computer on the other end doesn't recognize your phone and doesn't have the programming, it will be a very shory conversation.

Bottom line is: Forget it! If it has an FCC sticker, you can try to find a carrier for it! But the phone had better provide something AWFULLY GOOD to make it worth the trouble you will go through to get it working. Assuming you can get someone to activate it in the first place.

Just how badly do you want "cool"?

 

Give us a link to some of the phones you are talking about

Jack

 

Here are some additional phones too Website

 

On another forum I've heard that some smaller, ethnic stores in NYC sell Korean CDMA phones. I've also heard some people's experience with using them. Most of the menus were in English but there were some capabilities of the phone that wouldn't work.

I think these users also had connections to get the phone recognized on whatever network they were using.

Matt

 

Placo..,

It sounds like you already knew better than most exactly what you have to do to activate a foreign cellphone. It sounds like you've done it. More power to you.

Reading posts like yours, I no longer wonder why every newspaper and magazine these days contain articles about 'unethical' vs 'illegal' business behavior. I guess it's easy to justify lying and misrepresenting your actions to Verizon and others in the name of ... what? How much do you charge the customer for activating the foreign phone....

PS: I'm sure the Euro phones being imported by the crateful are US certified. If they are designed for 1900MHz they were built for the US market. Importing large quantities of illicit cellphones would be discovered -- or are they actually 'smuggling' them through customs. Which I would remind you is a felony! And simply possessing the phones could get the user in real trouble.....

 

Hi

How can I write a or send a SMS OTA to put a SIM TOOLKIT application on a client sim card

 

I agree with Placo. What is the big deal? It's all about business anyway. I have a Korean phone. It works ok. No text messaging, email or internet though. I posted on another site about it. What the store I went to did, was import a Korean phone and upload a US ESN into the phone. The sticker on the back of the phone was removed and replaced with a pc printout label. I'm not sure how the stores get US ESN's but they do. It's really expensive. Current model Korean phones go for between $400-$700. And that's with signing a new service contract. If anything, I would like to figure out how to do this on my own so I don't have to do it through a store and bring back a nice phone from Korea for myself. Placo, any advice?
BTW, while you lose some functionality with the phone, it is great to have. The phones are smaller than even the newest US phones, have 65K color screens. Digital camera integrated into it, or OEL outside displays. It makes the US CDMA phones look like those antiques in the movie Wall Street. We should be envious.
Good news. The years of lag seems to be shortening. The new Samsung Jupiter, LG 4400 for Verizon looks very promising as small Korean phones with color screens for the US market. Plus phonescoop.com lists the Samsung A570 as an upcoming Sprint phone. That is actually a Korean phone that is out right now in Korea. Gorgeous I might add. We may not have to be in the dark ages much longer.
As far as the ethics are concerned, why be so unecessarily legalistic about it? SOme people who aren't happy with a US product, say a car, just import one. I say if it's better somewhere else, and unfortunately our countries service providers can't give us what we want, we have a right as discerning consumers to get what we want. It's our way of showing that we aren't satisfied.

 

To ko3tgk


plz email me to joojupforever@hotmail.com if you can.. i really want to ask you where i can find a store who will do that..

 

whoever that dude is that worked for Verizon is just a @#$$#@#@. no wonder he got fired. Verizon will activate any phone if they can find the software. I have the LG SV-550 which was imported from Korea to use on SK Telecom. It was my cousin's and he activated it on Verizon fine. He even got V-Cast. Menu is in english and everything. now i just activated it on sprint. they were able to do mine, but i had to take it to the main store to program the internet. Sprint will activate Verizon phones too. depends on the techncian though cuz some are lazy and will tell u it ain't be done so they don't have to guide u. The only thing Sprint cannot activate are exclusive PDA's, MDA's, etc. from other CDMA providers.


Please watch your choice of words.
WA Moderating Team.

 

Korean CDMA will not work in North America since they use different sending/receiving frequencies.

Japan only uses W-CDMA (3G) so compatibility with US 2G CDMA is a no go.

 

Japan uses both WCDMA and CDMA2000 I believe.

 

Japan runs on WCDMA and CDMA 2100. It was actually easy to program it. you can program the system yourself. maybe cuz so many koreans travel, i dunno, but i just entered the same information from my BLADE (A900) and internet worked fine and texting. i just couldon't use their "color mail" whatever that is. it came with one of those computer print-out esn's too.