Armed Forces and Cell Phones. (1 Viewer)

[Daywalker]

Buddy leaving for S. Korea today. He as an iphone. I an android. He told me his data plan will be costly for him to text me from there. I and his family, who he is leaving for a year, are in Cali. His wife and kids on iphones so no prob.

But what the hell is a soldier worrying about his data plan?

He get's 15% off from Verizon due to being in the military. Not bad but a lot of us get our plans paid for by our employer.

Insane to me. Perhaps he's missing some benefit?

 

[matuski]

Why would it be more to text one cell phone than another?

 

[Ilov80s]

Why would it be more to text one cell phone than another?

With iPhones you can send texts as iMessages over WiFi so it uses no data. There are free texting apps out there that do similar.

 

[Foosball God]

Buddy leaving for S. Korea today. He as an iphone. I an android. He told me his data plan will be costly for him to text me from there. I and his family, who he is leaving for a year, are in Cali. His wife and kids on iphones so no prob.

But what the hell is a soldier worrying about his data plan?

He get's 15% off from Verizon due to being in the military. Not bad but a lot of us get our plans paid for by our employer.

Insane to me. Perhaps he's missing some benefit?

Are they using their cell phones for military business?

 

[Mr. Pickles]

Obama Phone should fix this.

 

[Mario Kart]

Plenty of free texting apps for an iPhone. No need to worry about sending/receiving texts. Even if not on wifi, they are free.

 

[lord_helmet]

I used to go and get a local pre-paid card for my phone, but that was before smart phones of course.

 

[dschuler]

His US cell phone with his US phone plan will not work overseas.

 

[jon_mx]

Why would it be more to text one cell phone than another?

With iPhones you can send texts as iMessages over WiFi so it uses no data. There are free texting apps out there that do similar.

There are dozens of Apps which allow any smart phone to send messages and make voice calls over wifi, such as Viber, Skype, Yahoo Messenger, Facebook Messenger, etc

 

[jon_mx]

His US cell phone with his US phone plan will not work overseas.

Wifi will still work though. You are restricted to certain areas, but still it works well for both voice, video and texting

 

[flgator]

His US cell phone with his US phone plan will not work overseas.

This. Maybe...

Most US cell service providers will cancel his contract and unlock his phone if he provides them with his orders to Korea.

If his phone has the right bands, he can use a South Korean SIM in it and use a local cell service provider there.

 

[Sinn Fein]

WhatsApp

 

[Christo]

WhatsApp

 

[Osaurus]

Hangouts

 

[modogg]

Plenty of free texting apps for an iPhone. No need to worry about sending/receiving texts. Even if not on wifi, they are free.

Yeah. download "Line". i think it is a Japanese app, but you can text everybody for free, easy to use too

 

[flgator]

http://thesetemporarytents.com/2013/09/16/military-expat-essentials-what-you-need-to-bring-to-south-korea/

You probably won’t need to bring these items 1. Your cell phoneSorry to bum you out, but your beloved iPhone probably won’t work here. And even if it does, you will be charged crazy roaming fees. So it’s better to just leave your smartphone behind.

The nice thing is that cellphones are easy to get here and the plans for 3G and 4G phones are about 1/2 the price they are in the US. I have a Samsung Galaxy S2 that I paid $75 (always offer to pay cash – they will usually give you a discount) for a 2 year contract. If we get orders elsewhere, I can simply return the phone and I won’t get any cancellation fees. I pay about $75 a month for unlimited data and messages. I think my plan has 300 minutes of call time but I never use the call feature. Kakao is an app that lets you chat and call anyone for free over here.

There is usually a cell phone shop (or three) on every military post that will help you set everything up and set your phone to English.

 

[madshot31]

WhatsApp and unlock the iphone, which takes a few days after filling out a online request, and then get another plan oversees.