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General discussion

unlocked japanese phone + text messaging

by shadovitz Dec 12, 2005 9:14AM PST

Im getting a gsm phone and will unlock it using an online service off of ebay - assuming i get it unlocked, will i be able to get text messages.

I know phone calls will work, but does the setup of the phone have to match t-mobile system for distributing text messages or is all that handled within the device?

thanks a lot, concerned because the phone wasnt cheap, mike

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by tychocat Jan 17, 2006 8:33PM PST

Part of my confusion in replying is you say you got a "japanese" phone. If you bought a cell phone that was made for the Japanese national market, then no, it won't work in the U.S. because the Japanese use a different system than most of the world. (I think it's a variant of CDMA.) On the other hand, if you just bought a japanese-manufactured phone, like a Panasonic, then no problem.

The value of getting an unlocked phone is that you can use it with different providers, if you have their SIM card. However, special functions like Internet access may require some special settings from your service provider.

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