Unlocking a docomo iphone

Living In Tokyo
1

Hi
I just read the article by Greg Lane with instructions to unlock an Iphone, I still have some time on my fixed contract with Docomo but I want to try the method Greg mentions using a fake sim to unlock, I was wondering if you can retain the original phone number after doing this? Any suggestions about unlocking and how not to pay a chunk of money to Docomo every month would be appreciated.

2

Hey, author here.
First off, there are absolutely no guarantees with this stuff - it can work for some people and not for others. Something you should be aware of is that when you use a turbo SIM to unlock your phone, it has to be in your phone all the time along with your MVNO SIM. If you just take out the turbo SIM and the MVNO SIM, you should be able to continue using your original Docomo SIM. So to test whether it works, you’ll need the turbo SIM plus an MVNO SIM. If you don’t want to sign up for a contract with IIJmio, Mineo or U-Mobile etc., you can just as easily use a tourist SIM to test if it works. Likely worst case scenario is you wasted a few thousand yen on a turbo SIM and a tourist SIM.

3

Thanks Greg. I’ll keep your information in mind if I decide to try this method. My biggest beef is with docomo, i think that they are trained to confuse you when signing a contract. I have been here many years and I am fluent in Japanese however these docomo guys can be relentless with information overload. Cheers David

David’s Iphone

4

It’s not just Docomo, all the big companies are the same. I had the same thing with a pocket wi-fi from E-Mobile which became Y!Mobile. After 4 years, I went to cancel my contract, but I was 5 days into a new auto-renewing contract period, so they charged me 10,000yen to cancel the contract.

5

Thanks for information.

I’ll make sure that I go before renewal date. Sorry to hear about your hassles with Y Mobile. I am probably going to go with a SIM which is both voice and Data from Asahi - Net. I have used them as my internet provider for a good few years. I understand that they use Docomo as a carrier, however I still want to get the phone unlocked so I can use it when travelling. Another friend told me that Docomo will unlock the phone for a fee if the model is after 2015. A question, do you foresee any probably with unlocking the phone if I am going to use docomo as a carrier through Asahi-net? Thanks for your time. Best wishes David