Verizon Galaxy S3 use while in China

[npitlor]

I'm going to have to travel to China monthly for at least the next year. I'd like to get a prepaid SIM while I am over there to use in my Galaxy S3. The last time I was there, my CDMA phone did work, but the $2/minute charge kills me, and I am going to need a better way to communicate with my contacts there (Local phone number, etc).

I'm thinking this would be simpler then getting a second phone, but I'm not 100 percent sure.

Can anyone provide some insight? If I can do it, is there an issue with swapping out different carrier SIMS as far as the phone, itself goes?

Thanks!

[nerdydesi]

Appararently, the Verizon GSIII does have a GSM radio and Verizon has said they will unlock such radio in the near future with a software update. But currently, I believe GSM roaming is not officially supported.

There is currently a thread on XDA-Developers where they have already unofficially unlocked it and gotten a T-Mobile USA sim card to work, but so far, only voice, no data.

I am not sure which exact GSM frequencies our model does support.

[ak1sdr]

The S3 isn't launching with the gsm radios enabled. That's coming later with a software update. So there's no promise that you'll be able to use a prepaid sim by the time you travel.

If that update does happen, then you'd need to contact global support for an unlock code for the phone.


Sent from my DROID4 using HowardForums

[jongbad]

You'd be better off just getting a prepaid phone when you're over there if you're planning on making local calls.