Getting 2g Cellphones to Work

submitted by tiny-brown-mug from self.technology

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[–]chottohen 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (11 children)

In Japan 3G begain phasing out earlier this year, but it depends. Here is a confusing blurb from a site selling old phones:

Some traditional flip phones will become unusable in Japan soon due to the termination of 3G telecommunications services. | KYODO Traditional flip mobile phones, known as garakei, a staple of the days before the arrival of the iPhone in Japan, will become unusable within a few years due to the termination of 3G telecommunications services.

KDDI Corp. will stop 3G radio wave transmission for flip phones at the end of March [2022], followed by SoftBank Corp. in late January 2024 and NTT Docomo Inc. at the end of March 2026.

If you want to see what's for sale here: https://www.ecosia.org/search?q=3g%20phones%20in%20Japan

[–]tiny-brown-mug[S] 1 insightful - 3 fun1 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 3 fun -  (1 child)

Thanks! A lot of those older Japanese phones are pretty cute. Very colorful, too.

[–]chottohen 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

I'll be going to a third world country soon and will pick up one of those flip 3Gs for $30 before I go. It will have to have a SIM change but you can buy them for a month or two months for a few bucks. Plus—any dollars you spend now in Japan are about 30% stronger than they were in the recent past against the yen.

[–]tiny-brown-mug[S] 1 insightful - 3 fun1 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 3 fun -  (4 children)

Also, Ecosia looks cool. Do they really plant trees for every web search you do?

[–]chottohen 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (3 children)

I do not know about that. I used to use Duck Duck but now they use Gooooogle's database so same difference. I am not convinced that Ecosia is the best.

[–]tiny-brown-mug[S] 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Also, the best info out there, in my opinion, is still on old-fashioned discussion forums. Real humans. Real opinions. Lots of cool tips and tricks for practical things, hobbies, and complex issues.

[–]tiny-brown-mug[S] 0 insightful - 2 fun0 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

"Teclis" is really fascinating to me. It's like 1998 internet.

[–]chottohen 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I've never heard of it but will checkitout.

[–]tiny-brown-mug[S] 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (3 children)

Huh, so it looks like it's being shut down in waves. That's interesting. Same thing in the States. However, I sometimes hear reports of people still able to latch onto a signal that was supposedly sunset a year ago, in rare cases. I wonder if the signals are, in fact, still running in some capacity, the companies have just blocked users from latching on. Maybe?

[–]chottohen 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

Did you notice that some of those phones were around $30?

[–]tiny-brown-mug[S] 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

Yes! They're incredibly cheap. I think they mostly sell to markets in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. A lot of them are very affordable, and some of them also have radios in them, which is cool.

It's great when the old stuff works, though. It feels like a win. :)

[–]chottohen 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Yes. Here's a related story I like: My wife accompanied me to Cambodia many times (even though she doesn't really like it) and made friends with some of the people. She was hooked up by cell to a young lady who sent out a selfie almost everyday. Well, soon my wife learned that the girl lived in a small stilt-house out in the back of beyond with her farmer father, siblings, and many water buffalo. Nothing wrong with that of course. She also had a late model iPhone that brought the world to her doorstep. It was an eye-opener for my wife. There are phone shops all over third world countries. You can drop off your phone and have a local SIM installed in minutes or just buy a used phone for cheap and get your basic functions. Those phones have been a cultural bomb that has led, in part, to such things as Iranian women taking off their burkas and multiple other cultural changes—a game changer like the wheel and the printing press.