Hi, I've never been asked "What's your cell phone carrier? I am an analog girl who used to answer the question "What is your cell phone carrier? I'm an analog girl who used to answer "iPhone! Thanks to the gadget geek kind seniors around me, my monthly cell phone bill has been reduced to about 1/3 of what it used to be.
The sequence of events
"Cheap SIM? It' s easier and tastier than you think! This article will be an introduction to the " Cheap SIM? "I want to use it right now! But I don't know how to do it! If you are in a hurry, please scroll down immediately and go to 3.
As a result, my cell phone bill has been reduced to 1/3 of what it used to be!
As of January 2016, I am paying on average about 3,900 yen per month for my cell phone bill. The low-cost SIM I subscribe to with BIGLOBE costs about 1,600 yen per month, and the au contract for a calling mobile phone costs about 2,300 yen per month, for a total of 3,900 yen.
I changed to this operation in November 2014. Before that, I was using an iPhone 5, which cost roughly 10,000-12,000 yen, so the amount I spend on my cell phone is really about 1/3 of what I spend on a cell phone.
I can even go to a Kanjani Eight concert with the money I saved.
Even considering the lowest total cost, 6,100 yen per month x 12 months = 73,200 yen for a year from December 2014 to December 2015! There's no way you can afford not to do this! It's a must, especially for those who live alone, really.
2. What is a cheap SIM?
I was one of those people who thought, "Let's buy a cell phone! I was the same way, but " Let ' s buy a cell phone! " is synonymous with "Let's go to docomo, au, or SoftBank! (I was the same way, but most of them are synonymous with " Let's go to docomo, au, or SoftBank! *In Saiga, it is synonymous with "Let's buy a BlackBerry!
The world of cell phones is dominated by the three major carriers in Japan, but recently, "cheap SIM" and "cheap phone" seem to be becoming more and more familiar words. Y!mobile has been advertising their products more and more, and such corners are becoming more and more conspicuous when you go to the cell phone section of electronics retail stores.
By the way, SIM is this tiny card that you plug into your cell phone. Without it, you can't use the Internet or make phone calls! It is very important! It is a magic spell!
Cheap SIM means that you buy only this SIM card and insert it into a phone that you bought (or have) separately. A cheap phone is to buy a device with a SIM card in it and use it. The two are the same.
Cheap SIMs" and "cheap phones" are, in essence, "borrowing a line from a major company and delivering the line to the user at a lower price than the major company! That's what it's all about, isn't it? Maybe.
I use BIGLOBE, which uses docomo's line. (In terms of carriers, it's docomo.) Using docomo's line = the same signal conditions as docomo = if docomo is in range 3, BIGLOBE is also in range 3, and if docomo is out of range, BIGLOBE is also out of range.
SoftBank seems to use the same communication method as docomo, but I won't go into the details of that because I don't know much about it. I'm not going to go into the details of that because I don't know much about it! " this magic spell will do the trick. The type of charger was the same, right here.
3. How do you use it?
For those of you who are thinking, "What's a cheap SIM?
When I started using it, the process was like this. (Old) iPhone5 (SoftBank) (New) XperiaZ2 (docomo) with BIGLOBE's cheap SIM + au mobile phone
- 1. Picked up the phone you want to use (XperiaZ2 white ROM) through online shopping
- 2. Sign up for a cheap SIM (BIGLOBE)
- Insert the SIM that will be sent to you at a later date into the phone you bought online and do a little setting.
- Cancel the iPhone5 + sign up for an au mobile phone with number portability
Yes, it's easy, so let's get down to the details.
3-1. Popping the phone you want to use online
White ROM = A phone with no SIM card stuck in it. SIM-free = A phone that is in a state where it is not SIM-locked.
Since docomo had SIM unlocking available until May 2015, it is safe to assume that docomo's White ROM = SIM-free.
However, after May 2015, SIM unlocking is no longer possible until 6 months have passed from the time of purchase.
Basically, the phones sold by the three major carriers in Japan have a "SIM lock," which means that only a docomo SIM can be used with a docomo handset, and only an au SIM can be used with an au handset. Simply put, a SIM-free phone can be used with a SoftBank SIM in a docomo phone! This is a happy body. White ROMs are also OK with the magic spell. If you want to use a cheap SIM, you have two choices: sign up for a cheap phone set or buy this white ROM or SIM-free and put it in.
I chose Xperia because of the design (this was my first priority, I want to use it for a long time), water resistance and battery life. The other reason is that it was newer in November 2014, so I'm 90% satisfied with it.
The price was about 30,000 yen for a used one, by the way. If you buy from one of the three major carriers, you can get a "free phone" for free! But if you think about the communication cost, you can get the money back in half a year even if you buy a second hand phone. It's a good deal.
If you search for a phone model of your choice + White ROM, you will find a lot of online stores that will give you a lot of information. Make sure to check the size of the SIM when you buy! Seriously! If you don't do this, you will be sad when the SIM you bought doesn't fit.
(By the way, there are several people in Saiga who always have SIM cutters and SIM adapters on hand.)
3-2. Sign up for a low-cost SIM
This is another one of those things where you can find a lot of companies. I am lost. Very confused. I was so confused that I thought, "I'll go with a company that is as reliable as possible! I narrowed it down to OCN and BIGLOBE.
- I want unlimited calls on my mobile phone. (I call 3~4 hours a week, so a mobile phone that is easy to use was a must.)
- (I call 3~4 hours a week, so a mobile phone that is easy to call was a must.
- (I call 3~4 hours a week, so I needed a mobile phone that is easy to use!
This was a very fluffy reason.
Of course, I referred to word-of-mouth sites, etc. in the end, but since I am the type of person who tends to connect to the Internet when commuting or when I have free time, I decided to go with BIGLOBE's Light S plan, which offers 1GB more per month for the same price.
This plan allows you to use up to 6 GB per month without communication restrictions for 1,450 yen! However, since 200 yen is discounted for 2 years, the actual monthly fee is 1,250 yen. With a basic fee of 200 yen and tax on top of that, it's roughly 1,600 yen, so it's cheap.
If you don't surf the Internet much, don't install apps, or always have Wi-Fi nearby and a good communication environment, I think a smaller capacity plan is fine. With Biglobe, 3GB is 900 yen! I didn't expect that to be in the triple digits! In my case, even though I have wireless LAN at home, I often go out to the countryside on the weekends, so the amount of data communication is inevitably large.
3-3. Put the SIM that will be sent to you at a later date into the phone you popped online and set it up according to the instructions.
When you sign up for a cell phone at a major carrier, the clerk will proceed with the settings on his/her own and the phone is already ready to use the moment you get it, but with a low-cost SIM you need to do the settings yourself.
This is the kind of thing. This is the one! I don't like it... ！！！！ I'm kind of scared! I want to throw it away and say I don't know. ！！！！！
I understand that feeling. But please look forward, it will be over in a second. You can use it once it's done, and you'll save 70,000 yen a year.
So, here's how to do it. You need to set up an APN, which is described in detail in the instruction manual enclosed with the SIM. And in these days of kindness, if you ask Dr. Google for "cheap SIM settings," he will show you how to do it in a video. Watch it. Please poke around as it is done.
That's all. It's that easy, 3-minute cooking.
3-4. Cancel your old cell phone + sign up for a mobile phone with number portability
Do this last and you are done! Don't cancel before you finish setting up the SIM by mistake! If you don't have Dr. Google by your side when you set up 3-3, you will have no choice but to say "whew~><" when you get in trouble. No one will help you.
If you only sign up for the unlimited calling plans offered by the three major carriers, you're all set. I had to choose au for various reasons, and in the case of au, I could not use my old au mobile phone because I had to purchase a new mobile phone for the unlimited calling plan. In the case of docomo, you could sign up for an unlimited calling plan even if you brought your own mobile phone, so if you don't care about the carrier or have a mobile phone you used in the past, you can bring your own phone! I think it is OK to bring your own mobile phone if you are not concerned about the carrier or if you have a mobile phone that you used to use!
Since carrier plans change from time to time, it is best to ask at the nearest store to be sure!
4. I thought about it when I tried it.
Good things
Cheap. That's all there is to it. No, it's really great! I could never pay 10,000 yen for a cell phone. ！！！！ I'm so happy that I can say "I'll never pay 10,000 yen for a cell phone.
Sad thing
You can't use your carrier email. You have to use a free email address, @docomo.ne.jpや@ezweb.ne.jpが使えないので. Free mail addresses like Yahoo! JAPANの@yahoo.co.jp and Googleの@gmail.com sometimes don't work for email registration.
Well, you may get an address automatically from the company you bought your SIM from, so please use that.
With BIGLOBE, you get an address with the domain @△△△.biglobe.ne.jp. It's not a free email, so you can register with this! You've done it!
Also, young people take purikura or something and send it to your cell phone, and there is no option after @. Seriously, I thought. I'm going to go to とはいえ最近は@gmail.comも対応してくれたので安心してください. If you can't find it, just give up, get a friend to send it to you, or sign up for a purikura membership and save all the pictures. Tehe-pe-ro
How do you feel about having two phones?
At first I thought it might be difficult to carry, but it doesn't get in the way, especially if I put the phone in my pocket and the Galapagos in my bag. There are times when I leave my mobile phone behind and leave the house, but I have Slack and Chatwork to communicate with work, and WhatsApp and BBM to communicate with friends, so I don't have much trouble. And then there's LINE, which is a hot topic right now.
It's a small price to pay in front of the overwhelming cheapness.
5. Calls
As I mentioned earlier, I make a lot of calls, so I am happy to have a mobile phone in addition to a low-cost SIM. However, nowadays, SIMs with voice are also available, so those who don't make calls and only need BBM are fine! If you don't make calls and only need BBM, that's fine too. I recommend this SIM to my friends because the price of 6GB data communication with voice SIM is 2,150 yen at BIGLOBE.
By the way, BBM, or BlackBerryMessenger, has great call quality, totally better than Skype or LINE.
6. Finally
Cheap SIM! What's so scary? I'm an analog girl with a humanities background, I can't do it. ！！！！ I was thinking "I can't do it, I'm an analogue girl!
If there is anyone out there who is scared, please tell them that they can live even if they are full of magic spells.
Sorry, this article is only available in Japanese and 繁體中文. at the moment.
