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iPhone 6 (and other smartphones)


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Thanks. So a kishu henkan gets me that discount then... that is good. That makes a fair bit of difference...

Hahaha! You do proof reading? Please tell me it's not in English?! I don't think I've ever seen a single post from you that doesn't have at least a good chunk of it that is incomprehensible.  

Not specifically iphone but I don't really understand this sim free thing.

Can someone explain it simply for a dunce like me?

:)

SIM free is when you buy a phone, without a contract from a phone company. You buy just the phone, no SIM card. At this point the phone is useless as a phone, until you put a SIM card in it can't connect to the network and make calls.

There are a number of reasons to do this,

1. You own the phone, so can move between phone companies if you get contract from the company that doesn't tie you to a fixed period.

2. The phones come unlocked, so can be used on different networks.

3. Reduces the monthly cost of your phone bill because you are not paying off the phone, although you do have to pay for the phone in one lump sum when buying it.

 

Thanks, I guess the problem in Japan though is that 3. isn't much of a goer.

The data plan for someone with a new handset bought from that carrier includes a discount that covers most or all of the cost of the set.

You do not get that discount if you provide your own set, whether sim free or second hand, so there is no real reduction in monthly cost.

 

 

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I can't quite get my head round this either.

 

On my current au contract, I pay 3000 yen a month for the hardware I bought nearly 2 years ago. It tells me on the last invoice that I have 1 more month presumably to go. So I am paying for the hardware... just over 24 months? Surely from the month after, all other things being equal, my bill will be 3000 yen left as I have fulfilled that?

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With au, there is a thing called the "monthly discount". Its a stupid name because you only get it while paying off a phone.

So once your phone is paid off, your bill goes down by the amount you were paying for the phone and goes up due to the loss of the monthly discount.

For cheaper phones, the monthly discount covers the cost of the phone, so the bill stays the same once the handset is paid off.

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I "love" it with phone companies here that you can't cancel your contract anytime once you have exceeded the term length; you have a window period to check out of that SOB before you're locked into the same contract for another full term. same with internet and other contracts too, actually. It would never fly back in Blighty.

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Rather than reward you for being a long term customer, they ask you to take your pants down and bend over for a good shafting.

The other companies don't seem to provide much incentive to join up either.

It is all very curious.

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:console:

 

But thanks to this thread I went in at lunchtime and found out that I could save 1500 yen a month by downgrading my data pack. Turns out over the last 6 months I have never used over 2GB, and so I downgraded to that amount.

 

Cheers!

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I have a question.

 

OK so I am going to get a dekai iphone 6, and stay with au, the complete bastards.

 

But I can't work out how much worse off I'd be if I got a sim free.. rather than buy through au.

 

Looking at the au site now, for example I can get a iphone 5s for 68,040 yen (2835 yen x 24 months).

Or is it 24,850 yen over 24 months with effectvely 1800 yen off per month.

It's unclear if that is if I join up for a new data plan or not. Is that waribiki available for current customers just moving to the new phone? Or would I effectively be pying 68040 for the phone over 24 months?

 

Can someone clear that one up for me. My head is confused.

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When I upgraded and wanted the discount I first had to pay 10,000 for a contract alteration fee, then start over with all the offers etc. It worked out cheaper than just getting the phone outright.

 

 

You need to look at if the 2835 yen pcm is discounted off your monthly bill, or if only part of it is. If your discount for the phone is less than the cost of the alteration of your contract in order to get said discount, then just get the phone. Unless you want to change your data tariff too, that is, in which case you'll need to discuss it with them anyway.

 

In all honesty, they only really tell you what you are paying for when you're sitting down and signing up with the pen in your hand, the sneaky buggers.

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My 2 years is also up which means so are the discounts I had until now. So it's all by the catalogue now.... just need to know whether I can get that discount on the hardware by paying over 2 years.

 

I really would like to avoid the shop. They annoy me. Well apart from the Docomo ladies. :evilgrin:

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I have a question.

 

OK so I am going to get a dekai iphone 6, and stay with au, the complete bastards.

 

But I can't work out how much worse off I'd be if I got a sim free.. rather than buy through au.

 

Looking at the au site now, for example I can get a iphone 5s for 68,040 yen (2835 yen x 24 months).

Or is it 24,850 yen over 24 months with effectvely 1800 yen off per month.

It's unclear if that is if I join up for a new data plan or not. Is that waribiki available for current customers just moving to the new phone? Or would I effectively be pying 68040 for the phone over 24 months?

 

Can someone clear that one up for me. My head is confused.

 

What you want to do is change sets, kishu henkan, so you will get the waribiki. With a 5s its only slightly smaller than the discount for new customers and ones coming from another carrier.

 

If au applies something like the prices on the Apple Japan site, the 6 is 10,000 more than the 5s, and the big 6 10,000 on again. At present, kishu henkan to a 5s, or a 5c if colour is more important than performance, is 135 yen a month for 24 months for the 16GB after the waribiki. So the big six will be that plus 20,000 total, plus a bit more for being new, so I'd guess 2500 a month. A second hand au iPhone 5 that's paid off will be worth a fair bit though if your phone is in good nick. Maybe 20000, so that could really ease the pain. Ask at Sofmap, Dospara etc.

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Apparently you can unlock a Japanese Iphone with a card sold by a company called Gevey. Once unlocked you can change providers to a sim only company.

A quick look at kakaku.com suggests 1GB a month is under 2000 yen with calls. Apparently you can keep your existing phone number, though they lock you in for a year.

My missus iphone 5 is paid off soon, so I might get her to get a 6 (might as well to get the discount), swipe her 5, and go onto a biglobe sim myself.

Biglobe uses Docomo's network so coverage should be good. Getting a signal is the biggest worry around here.

Most of my calls are to my missus, so we can just do Line or something to keep that free.

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