Question re: CDMA in Japan

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

Please forgive what is probably a very elementary question,
but it continues to confuse me.

Tonight I called CS to get my phones flagged for a PRL update.
Two CS reps hadn't gotten to that page in the manual or something, and
made like I was speaking martian, ultimately passing me off to the
tech department. (Usually the PRL process is a breeze. Perhaps they're
training new recruits.)

The tech guy told me that, honestly, I didn't need 10026
unless I was going to be roaming in Australia. When I was surprised,
and I suppose seemed like I had half a clue as to what this all meant,
he said "Yeah, in fact the last three PRL updates were really only
necessary for people who would be dealing with our digital roaming
partners in Korea, Japan and Australia".

I travel to Japan a fair bit, and my wife and I have a phone
that we only use there. We're on our in-laws' "family plan" and it's
very economical if you're only in the country a few weeks at a time, a
few times a year. I've often wished I could just use my US SPCS phone
there.

Now, I know that Japan's system is a flavor of CDMA, but what
did this guy mean by "digital roaming" there, and what would it have
to do with updating the PRL on the instruments I use here?

Thanks in advance for your reply, or for directing me to where
I can learn more.

DGI

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

> Now, I know that Japan's system is a flavor of CDMA, but what
> did this guy mean by "digital roaming" there, and what would it have
> to do with updating the PRL on the instruments I use here? >>

KDDI's AU service is the same cdma2000 we use with Sprint PCS. (KDDI
has rolled out
EV-DO on 2100 MHz, already, though.)

For those who would want to roam in Japan via their Sprint PCS phone,
those PRL
updates would be useful!

And, for singha_lvr: KDDI had wider coverage via cdma2000 before DoCoMo
ramped up coverage with W-CDMA.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

On Thu, 10 Feb 2005 02:55:55 -0500, David G. Imber
<imber@maniform.com> wrote:

>
> Now, I know that Japan's system is a flavor of CDMA, but what
>did this guy mean by "digital roaming" there, and what would it have
>to do with updating the PRL on the instruments I use here?

Without addressing the rest of your message (which I'm not qualified
to answer) .....

Isn't a majority of Japan on WCDMA? (Which is an evolution of 3G
GSM?)

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

On 10 Feb 2005 07:05:01 -0800, "carcarx" <carcarx@hotmail.com> wrote:

>And, for singha_lvr: KDDI had wider coverage via cdma2000 before DoCoMo
>ramped up coverage with W-CDMA.

Thanks .... I appreciate the correction and the update.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

"singha_lvr" <singha_lvr@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:mpmm01h4r3cgdi1igir0h9ga1he17hjact@4ax.com...
> On Thu, 10 Feb 2005 02:55:55 -0500, David G. Imber
> <imber@maniform.com> wrote:
>
> >
> > Now, I know that Japan's system is a flavor of CDMA, but what
> >did this guy mean by "digital roaming" there, and what would it have
> >to do with updating the PRL on the instruments I use here?
>
> Without addressing the rest of your message (which I'm not qualified
> to answer) .....
>
> Isn't a majority of Japan on WCDMA? (Which is an evolution of 3G
> GSM?)

It appears that there is quite a bit of 3G & 2G CDMA coverage in Japan, per
cdg.org's information - http://www.cdg.org/worldwide/index.asp?h_area=1

Bob

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

On Thu, 10 Feb 2005 14:24:58 GMT, "Bob Smith"
<usirsclt_No_Spam_@earthlink.net> wrote:

>
>It appears that there is quite a bit of 3G & 2G CDMA coverage in Japan, per
>cdg.org's information - http://www.cdg.org/worldwide/index.asp?h_area=1
>
>Bob

I stand corrected.

Question: I notice that one of the companies involved is Hutch
communications. Aren't these the folks with the CDMA that actually
HAS a SIM card???

I tried to activate my USA (VZW) CDMA phone in Thailand (it actually
gets a signal there.) But they told me that I couldn't do it because
my phone wouldn't accept a SIM card.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

"singha_lvr" <singha_lvr@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:d8vm01defvi45dqp4lhltkr495duk2khtp@4ax.com...
> On Thu, 10 Feb 2005 14:24:58 GMT, "Bob Smith"
> <usirsclt_No_Spam_@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> >
> >It appears that there is quite a bit of 3G & 2G CDMA coverage in Japan,
per
> >cdg.org's information - http://www.cdg.org/worldwide/index.asp?h_area=1
> >
> >Bob
>
> I stand corrected.
>
> Question: I notice that one of the companies involved is Hutch
> communications. Aren't these the folks with the CDMA that actually
> HAS a SIM card???
>
> I tried to activate my USA (VZW) CDMA phone in Thailand (it actually
> gets a signal there.) But they told me that I couldn't do it because
> my phone wouldn't accept a SIM card.

Sorry, but I don't have an answer for you there. When you say "they", do you
mean the local Thailand provider? If you were getting a signal, I don't see
the necessity of a SIM card, if Verizon had a roaming agreement in place
with that Thailand provider.

Bob

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

Based on what I've read here, I thought that PRL 10024 and 10025 added
lots more digital roaming possibilities here in the USA.

David G. Imber wrote:

> The tech guy told me that, honestly, I didn't need 10026
> unless I was going to be roaming in Australia. When I was surprised,
> and I suppose seemed like I had half a clue as to what this all meant,
> he said "Yeah, in fact the last three PRL updates were really only
> necessary for people who would be dealing with our digital roaming
> partners in Korea, Japan and Australia".


--
Frank Harris in San Francisco with an A680

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

Frank Harris wrote:
>
> Based on what I've read here, I thought that PRL 10024 and 10025 added
> lots more digital roaming possibilities here in the USA.

For whatever it's worth, have a look at:

http://mallard.rainyday.mb.ca/~dialtone/sprint/sprint.htm

Notan

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

On 10 Feb 2005 07:05:01 -0800, "carcarx" <carcarx@hotmail.com> wrote:

>> Now, I know that Japan's system is a flavor of CDMA, but what
>> did this guy mean by "digital roaming" there, and what would it have
>> to do with updating the PRL on the instruments I use here? >>
>
>KDDI's AU service is the same cdma2000 we use with Sprint PCS. (KDDI
>has rolled out
>EV-DO on 2100 MHz, already, though.)
>
>For those who would want to roam in Japan via their Sprint PCS phone,
>those PRL
>updates would be useful!

No kidding. I should find out what the charges and coverage
are like.

Thanks very much! DGI

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

"David G. Imber" <imber@maniform.com> wrote in message news:n5bo01tmrhac8rjqudhe34ft7jtihlqcef@4ax.com...
> On 10 Feb 2005 07:05:01 -0800, "carcarx" <carcarx@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>>> Now, I know that Japan's system is a flavor of CDMA, but what
>>> did this guy mean by "digital roaming" there, and what would it have
>>> to do with updating the PRL on the instruments I use here? >>
>>
>>KDDI's AU service is the same cdma2000 we use with Sprint PCS. (KDDI
>>has rolled out
>>EV-DO on 2100 MHz, already, though.)
>>
>>For those who would want to roam in Japan via their Sprint PCS phone,
>>those PRL
>>updates would be useful!
>
> No kidding. I should find out what the charges and coverage
> are like.
>
> Thanks very much! DGI
>

David:
Assuming "carcarx" is correct about KDDI using the 2100-MHz band,
you should be skeptical about your 1900-MHz phone's ability to operate
in Japan's 2100-MHz frequency range. I'd expect it to fail.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

On Fri, 11 Feb 2005 16:48:24 GMT, "John R. Copeland"
<jcopelan@columbus.rr.aol.com> wrote:


>David:
>Assuming "carcarx" is correct about KDDI using the 2100-MHz band,
>you should be skeptical about your 1900-MHz phone's ability to operate
>in Japan's 2100-MHz frequency range. I'd expect it to fail.

Although KDDI appears to use more than one band commonly, I
think you are essentially right from the cursory research I've done,
which suggests that if you are planning travel in Japan and wish to be
billed via your SPCS account, you have to rent a handset from them
that will handle it.

The source of my confusion when the original tech told me
about this, he mentioned it as part of the general-release PRL. It
never occurred to me that they engineer one PRL for all devices,
including those not capable of using some components of it. But that
would make sense.

In addition, I contacted some friends in Japan and asked how
KDDI's AU coverage is, and the consensus was that it was _awful_.

And finally, I imagine the charges are high. The deal we have
now in Japan is really cheap and convenient (Vodaphone) and the
coverage is great. Even if one doesn't have family over there whose
plan one can piggy-back on, I've rented phones in Japan for a fairly
reasonable cost.

The advantage of using one's own number is appealing though.

DGI