Japanese Mobile Phone price plans....

OK, so I'm thinking about changing my mobile phone. I haven't really paid any attention to this since I moved back to Japan 2 years ago. I'm using Docomo and I'll probably stay with them since I get the discount and I'm assume all Japanese mobile companies are pretty much the same.

Now....the price plans.....does anyone understand this? Here's what Docomo has:

http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/english/charge/bill_plan/plan/index.html

I'll probably go with LL to make sure I have enough minutes. But how do packets figure into all of that? Are my packets part of the package? Are they separate from the minutes? I use text messages a lot more than phone conversations so if they're separate I don't want to have unused minutes and a lot of packets at higher prices.

Is i-mode use included in that price? What about Longmail? From reading the site it looks like those packets aren't included in your plan?

I just want X units of use on the phone every month for a price. If X is a call, or a longmail, or i-mode, or internet, or shortmail, then great. I don't care. I just don't want to get killed with the extras even after buying an expensive plan.

 

I decided long ago to not give any more than I have to to any company w/ the initials NTT in the company name (in that sequential order, of course). NTT sucks ass. Go get a Softbank phone.

 

Yeah I've heard nothing but horror stories about Docomo but I've always used them and I've never had any problems....? What are the usual reasons for the gripes?

 

DoCoMo is last. The amount of hidden charges and poor customer service was terrible.! I was with DoCoMo at first but then changed to J-Phone which was then Vodafone and now Soft bank ! Soft Bank is the one you want to be with. Get the white plan at only 980 yen per month ! Just got my new phone yesterday as well (Soft Bank) and can clearly say I'm very happy with the plan I got.

If you must be a cheap ass then go for AU but we all know AU is for poor students

Yakumo

 

My main beef is with NTT, not DoCoMo. Technically not the same, but still... related. Despite the fact that their monopoly on telecoms hindered the countries technological advancements (were you in Japan in the late 90's??? They were the last 1st world country on the net), they also butt-fuck people on a personal level.

The last straw was when I called to ask if I was "on the telehoudai", a service which allowed you to connect to a number (99% of the time your internet provider) from 11PM to 7AM for a flat fee per month. I was told "yes". Then, I got a 50,000 yen bill for the month. I was explained that, "just b/c 'you are on it' doesn't mean that you can use it yet." Apparently it didn't kick in until the next cycle. After 2 hours on the phone w/ some bitch and a letter, I got out of it. Still, they rubbed me the wrong way.

When one of their big guys quit, formed a company, and sued them for anit-competitve practices (thereby opening up the country to ADSL) many people would have to get their lines changed from Type 1 to Type 2. NTT had to do this, and then the DSL provider would come do more work. Sometimes NTT would just come in and set them up w/ NTT DSL right there. Scum bags.

There's a lot of crazy NTT stories out there. The sad thing is, until recently, they were over 50% government owned. The only reason they got under 50% was b/c the FBI told them to fuck off when they tried to buy some massive backbone in the states. I'm pretty sure it was a big middle finger though in disguise. The US had been trying to get into the Japanese telecomes market for years, and couldn't do it w/o losing money due to NTT's cost. It's still unbelievable though. A T1 with both ends terminated in Tokyo will run somewhere around $1600 USD a month. Tokyo to Osaka is about $9k USD a month. To put that into perspective, you can get a line from the middle of America to Japan for about $4k a month.

 

That's... insanity, Gaijin.