Nick,
> What exactly would not work in JP? SMS? MMS? Voda Web? Packet/Opera?
If I slip my Vodafone SIM into an unlocked Sony Ericsson I have from Europe
I get voice and SMS right off the bat. I managed the get email notification
to work -- so that the phone would tell me I had an email on the server --
but I could never retrieve it. For this I used that data on the Web.
Vodafone Live never worked. It's possible to browse the Web (regular
Internet and non-Vodafone Live mobile sites) through the Access Internet
service - Vodafone publishes those user names and passwords - but it's
expensive and doesn't allow access to the Vodafone mail server and Vodafone
Live.
> How - if at all - would VodaJP be the loser?
Of course these lose nothing. In a way they are better off because they
don't have to pay out $400 in handset subsidies for me to use their
services. It does take away a tiny little bit of control from them and
that's probably the problem.
As for certification, it's ridiculous for the government to allow foreign
handsets to roam on Japanese networks and not allow domestic users to use
the same phones. And after all, this is a common standard we are talking
about so it's hardly likely to be different.
BTW, note how Vodafone tells you to switch your phone back to 3G mode
before you step on the plane back to Japan - or to switch to GSM only after
you get off in your destination. Presumably some legal requirement to avoid
GSM signals messing up whatever services use the spectrum here. It's silly
because when I got my phone the network mode was automatic so everytime I
lost signal the phone started looking for a GSM network....
Martyn
Received on Tue Sep 19 10:54:21 2006