Which cell phone will work..?

June 18, 2007 10:12 PM

I have found myself in Seoul, South Korea! The thing is, I want to buy a cell phone here and bring it back to Canada...

A relative here has offered to buy me a cell phone! I plan to take advantage of that offer because my phone back in Canada is pretty ancient. Plus, all the phone's here are nicer than those in Canada :D

The problem is, will it work? I know it can be done, but I have heard that some cell phones will not work outside of Korea, even if you unlock it.

Does anybody know what kind of cell phones will work if I bring it back to Canada? Can anybody please offer some guidelines as to which cell phones will work?

Many thanks :D

posted by veol to technology (6 comments total)

The ONLY phones that will work if you bring them back to Canada are GSM worldphones that are UNLOCKED and take a common SIM card. You'll have to be on one of the GSM carriers, which means Rogers or Fido, if I remember correctly.

Most carriers won't actually support this, but if you phone is compatible you can just toss the new SIM card into the imported phone and you're off to the races. Don't count on getting data services working though, they require settings you may or may not be able to get.

I recommend you ask this question over on Howard Forums, which seems to be the best place for mobile phone information. Make sure to drill down to the Canadian Carriers section info for the states will not be all that helpful (or accurate).
posted by tiamat at 10:58 PM on June 18, 2007

the phone will not work. period.
posted by dawdle at 10:59 PM on June 18, 2007 [1 favorite]

Explaining dawdle's answer. Korea does not use GSM systems...
posted by birdsquared at 11:06 PM on June 18, 2007

No dice, sadly.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 1:29 AM on June 19, 2007

Too lazy too google, but if South Korea uses CDMA, can't he bring it back and use Sprint PCS or Verizon, or whoever Canada has that is CDMA?
posted by thilmony at 10:24 AM on June 19, 2007

Bell and Telus are both CDMA in Canada. Don't know if they'll take world phones though.
posted by anthill at 11:40 PM on July 4, 2007