Call Me Maybe: How to Buy a Mobile Phone and Set Up a 3G/4G Plan

Few things in Beijing are as essential as a mobile phone. Not only can users make calls, but they can also send payments, buy movie tickets, book flights, shop online, and more with just a few swipes of a finger.

There are three state-owned telecommunication companies in China. China Mobile is the world’s largest individual mobile operator by subscribers, with over 500 million users. China Unicom is the second-largest mobile service provider in China with nearly 300 million users. China Telecom has the lowest with around 50 million users; its focus is more on broadband services. 

Phones purchased in China are often incompatible with foreign service providers, so if you travel a lot for work, double-check that you’ll be able to use it overseas. iPhones with overseas contracts can be unlocked for a fee, but this isn’t the same as “jailbreaking.” Jailbreaking means enabling a phone to illegally download apps for free; this can land you with hefty fines from Apple. In Beijing, authorized Apple service centers and official Apple stores can unlock a foreign-bought iPhone as long as you have the warranty or original receipt. 

To read the full article, go over to our sister website beijingkids.

Photo: Okalvakan (Flickr)

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Guest wrote:

The title of this article has absolutly nothing to do with the content of the article, you didn't answer the two basic questions the title suggests you would answer, "How to buy a phone" and "How to set up 3G/4G", 3G and 4G are no where mentioned even in the content.  

Keep up the good work and misleading article titles like all mainstream media.

Touche!

you'll note this, the last line of the article:

To read the full article, go over to our sister website beijingkids.

where you will much of the detail you are looking for

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