Importing a mobile phone from japan

Iirc their phone over there runs on a different frequency, Having said that you can get a quad/tri-band phone.
 
Really? Ah fair mate, thanks for the info. Does anybody else have any experience on this matter?

I saw an amazing phone on ebay a while ago, which had a 6mp camera built into it and was thinking of doing some research into getting one over here...
 
A very, very limited number of Japanese phones will work in the UK and even the ones that will are based on existing European models (i.e. the Motorola M1000 and Nokia 702NK).

Japan uses a variety of technologies for 2G, none of which are used in the UK. NTT DoCoMo and Vodafone KK/Softbank use the same technology as the UK for their 3G networks, but their phones are VERY tightly locked down and getting them to work on a UK network is practically impossible.
 
Tunney said:
Japan uses a variety of technologies for 2G, none of which are used in the UK. NTT DoCoMo and Vodafone KK/Softbank use the same technology as the UK for their 3G networks, but their phones are VERY tightly locked down and getting them to work on a UK network is practically impossible.
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Well, when the Sony Ericsson V800 was first released, I heard of plenty of people on esato who bought the Japanese Vodafone KK version and unlocked it (and flashed the firmware) to use it just like the V800, so it just depends on the handset. Obviously, the BB5 locked Nokias will be just as hard to unlock as the 3 UK ones in England, but the Sony Ericssons should be easy enough.

But ultimately for the OP, if he was looking to use the "exotic" Japanese phones in England, no, that's much more difficult.
 
Really? Aww...... Saying that, there are lots of "shops" around here where I might be able to find a service lol...

It just really puzzles me though, that when you're buying e.g. a tri/quad band phone over (which lots are) it seems you can take it abroad to Japan quite easily. I wonder why it's so much harder the other way around...
 
greenlizard0 said:
It just really puzzles me though, that when you're buying e.g. a tri/quad band phone over (which lots are) it seems you can take it abroad to Japan quite easily. I wonder why it's so much harder the other way around...
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No, you can only use W-CDMA (3G) phones for roaming in Japan. Normal tri/quadband phones don't work in Japan.
 
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