Finally, some sort of news on the Japanese front. I guess I'll be able to buy one in Japan after all.

Nooooooooo, not DoCoMo.

Japan's very own Hellstra.

iPhone to expand in Asia: launch in Japan and Korea expected

My family in Japan is using DoCoMo - they aren't as bad as Telstra.

I'm using DoCoMo and there's nothing wrong with them.

No one's as bad as Telstra.

DoCoMo isn't as bad as Telstra, but their FOMA coverage was terrible. Their handsets weren't as good as ones from AU (KDDI).

Anyways, they're announcing new handset/products on the 27th this month so we'll know whether iPhone will be part of their summer lineup.

I like docomo.... for one thing... their english support line.... it is almost instant service... ring, no buttons to press, and support is answered....

it may have changed since I was last with them.. but that always made me happy.

in hokkaido there is no question that docomo is No. 1 as far as signal... softbank is absolutely woeful... au does better but I get frustrated sometimes... and people with docomo phones just keep on chugging along.

One of my theories why Japan and Korea has been so quiet on iPhone rumours is that any noise from them just screams iPhone 3G.

I seriously doubt DoCoMo or KTF will be announcing iPhones in their lineup before Steve does on June 9th...

Like the LG Prada phone which had its own press release... the iPhone will receive its own press release too.

You guys have obviously all arrived in Japan long after NTT's Telstra-like monopoly was broken. Be thankful for that.

The main reason for my ire towards NTT is that I was forced to pay ¥90000 for a phone line (when it was ¥60=AU$1) when I arrived in Japan. If you wanted a home phone, this is what you had to pay. Period.

I have other quibbles with NTT not worth going into here. Even now though, isn't DoCoMo the most expensive of the mobile companies?

I was with J-Phone, which was bought by Vodafone Japan, which is now... is it Softbank? I was really, really happy with them. I seem to remember I got a cumulative 5% discount for every year I was a customer.

All phone companies now provide a annual discount the longer you have been with them... (it may also depend on what plan you are on)...
and you are right... with your j-phone line of change.

docomo is the most expensive.. but the way softbank has been churning customers has really pressured docomo into providing better bang for buck...

as an aside... au has the best emoticons.... not that the iphone will be supporting them.. (although gmail now does).

It's still a ridiculous amount. The good thing about Japan is that companies usually cover that cost for you so I don't feel the pain :P

One way to get around it is to sign up with say YahooBB. They'll pay that amount, but give you up to 3 months free. Even if you decide to cancel the plan, you'll still have the phoneline.

As for the price, the market is too competitive to try and force a higher price. They're all about the same price, but it's the call quality, available products, and the phones that differentiate the numerous carriers.

The problem with Australia is that there isn't enough competition to put pressure on Telstra to do anything. They're not losing customers and enjoy a profitable business. Thus, the monopoloy. NTT can't do that anymore due to FTTH, VoIP, and every using mobile phones instead of landlines.

I think that policy of having to 'buy' a phoneline for an exorbitant amount is long gone now Comet.

Even soon after I got up there, there became a way to avoid it. When I moved up to Tokyo from Kansai the system was that if you bought a 'digital line' rather than an 'analogue line', the cost was only ¥15000 or so. Having a digital line meant that you had a standard phone number, and you were on ISDN internet.

NTT had massively overinvested in ISDN equipment in the late 90s so that I think they were doing whatever they could to offload it. They failed to foresee how much better ADSL was going to be, and so when people wanted to switch their line back to analogue for ADSL they charged another exorbitant fee again.

Last trip up to Japan last year, Softbank were the only company offering email from the keitai. All the other companies were only allowing messages within their networks. So I chose a Softbank phone for my travels. They offered me two models - the same cost, but one was with a camera too. I asked straight off if I would be able to download the pictures/movies and was told yes definitely, so I took that one.

After travel up in Hokkaido, Tokyo and Kansai the phone was full of great pics and movies taken in those moments when my usual digicam couldn't be whipped out quick enough. So I tried getting it all off the camera - turned out to be absolutely, utterly impossible. No memory cards, no cable connections, no bluetooth, only some of the content can be emailed, and then at a much reduced resolution.

Was very unhappy with Softbank. I cannot liberate the movie of me riding the robot panda at Asahiyama Zoo.

Sorry on the iPhone so can't quote. If you really want those photos you might be able to get a USB cable and a software to go with it for around 4000 yen.

Anyways if its a 3g then Docomo would be the winner unless softbank still has ties with vodafone

I went through 3 Yodobashis and 2 Bic Cameras and as far as I and the staff were able to tell, the Softbank phone I had is the only one in Japan not supported by any of that 3rd party software. Seriously, we looked at every option.

One day I hope to have enough technical expertise to hack the bugger and get my data off the chip.

Sorry to hear about your woes with getting off the data....


as for softbank being the only company to offer email

almost all phones have email as their primary form of communication.....

japan would collapse if they didnt.... or maybe Im not understanding your post...