one interesting thing will be whether it is quad band 3G, the expanded and faster optus and vodaphone network will be different to all existing networks and currently there are no devices in australia that support the 900MHz band.

if this is not the case many of us will be forced onto Next G to get reasonable coverage and speed - which would be a great pity.

Thank god I moved to Vodafone when I got my iPhone at the start of the year.

Vodafone operate their UMTS/HSDPA network on the 2100mhz frequency, so we know it will work on 3, Optus and Vodafone. Telstra uses the 850mhz frequency (as does AT&T) so it will certainly be a dual band at least phone. I haven't seen a 3G phone that doesn't has GSM support in it.

I would like to have an iPhone, however it won't work in Japan when I move there at the end of the year.

the nokia 6121 Nokia 6121 classic - Full phone specifications has been on sale for months and supports 900mhz UMTS..

a number of operators in europe are building and have built 900mhz umts networks.

i think you will find the phone will come in 900/1800/2100 (world wide form)

and a can i have fries with that sameG 850/1900 north american upsized sol version..

they signed a deal with ericsson for a UMTS 900 network late last year, though very little has happened to the build..

http://www.vodafone.com.au/static/Tu...004057_web.pdf

How can you be sure? (Of course the current iPhone will not work but I'm confident that the next version supporting UMTS will work. You should be able to get a SIM only plan from Softbank or DoCoMo.)

I was led to believe that mobile phones from Australia will not work in Japan, even for global roaming. My brother had to leave his Vodafone mobile in Oz and pick up a new one in Japan when he came to visit last year (despite it supposedly being a world wide phone). He told me that Vodafone assured him that no mobile phone designed for Australia will work in Japan. Am I missing something?

Only special phones (Vodafone AU?) from Japan will work in Australia.

You can't get a SIM only plan in Japan. You should be able to roam onto the Softbank network if you're on vodafone, since it used to be vodafone. With 3, you roam onto Docomo's FOMA network.

That's what my brother did, only he couldn't use his Australian handset - they gave him one in Tokyo that he used.

I was led to believe that Japanese mobile phones don't have sims?

how is this for a short press release from telecom italia:

Telecom Italia - Media - Press Releases - Telecom Italia

the url is longer than the content!

however, it seems other carriers are pissed that vodafone got their news out first.

so this is the first official confirmation that 2 carriers will sell the iPhone concurrently in the same country.

interesting that they use the "later this year" line too.

Mobile phones are little radios - if the radio tunes into the frequencies spinning around in the air, then it will work.

In Australia, we use various frequencies: 800Mhz for "2G" GSM - 2100Mhz and 850Mhz for UMTS "3G". I don't know much about Japan mobile networks, but it seems that they tend to go out and use their own standards instead of the Euro/USA ones. I don't think there are GSM or UMTS networks in Japan - which means you're shit outta luck when it comes to using an "Australian (read: European)" handset in Japan.

Thank you Decryption.

That's pretty much what I've been told too. I have never seen a Euro brand mobile in Japan, only Japanese brands. I think this rules out an iPhone for me to take to Japan.

That's not true, Comet. Only last week I was offered a SIM only plan by a lady in a Softbank store in Kumata.

Wrong! Both DoCoMo and Softbank use UMTS on 2100 MHz. WCDMA/UMTS is, in fact, largely Japanese technology developed by NTT (DoCoMo).

Jun, I suspect your brother had a GSM only mobile phone. These will not work in Japan.