Mobile phones in Pakistan

Lifestyle Bazaar Talk
1

I am thinking of sending a relative a mobile phone as a gift. Nothing fancy just something functional.

Anyway a friend of mine was telling me how he sent a Nokia 3210 to his family and how they said it didn’t work.

So my question is: what do you need to do to confirm a budget GSM phone will work in Pakistan?

2

The right frequency. If the phone is tri-band (900/1800/1900) then it would work in Pakistan. Ofcourse depending on where you are you may be able to buy a phone with just the Paki frequency. In the US they don't sell phones that don't work in the US, so its gotta be tri-band.

3

ANy try band phone will work, but make sure its not locked on any Network. 3G and UMTS phones would not work there as no company is offering 3G service. I gave a 3G Motorola A920 to my brother in Pakistan but its useless for him as he can't use best of its features. so make sure sending a right phone. Ask them what top models are in the market. from my experience Nokia 7600 works fine.

4

Re: Mobile phones in Pakistan

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Zakk: *
I am thinking of sending a relative a mobile phone as a gift. Nothing fancy just something functional.

Anyway a friend of mine was telling me how he sent a Nokia 3210 to his family and how they said it didn't work.

So my question is: what do you need to do to confirm a budget GSM phone will work in Pakistan?
[/QUOTE]

If you´d be sending a mobile from the US, then yes, you would need a tri-band one, because the Americans use a frequency of 1900 MHz.

However since you are based in the UK it is not necessary to send a tri-band model. You have to make sure, that the mobile is "unlocked" though. Usually the ones you get with a "super-duper deal" are locked, but you can get them unlocked at every other mobile shop in the UK as well as in Pakistan (for example: Hafeez Centre in Lahore).

5

PS: Zakk if you choose a 3G set then get it unlocked here, don't leave it for Pakistan it could be a pain in the neck. for Motorola A920 there no one heard about the model, unlocking was out of question! got it unlocked online and paid about £35 for that!

6

£35? :eek: You got ripped, man!

7

nah, here in UK you can’t get it unlocked and some IMEI numbers are reserved for THREE network and can’t get it unlocked easily for this particular set.

8

Just to clarify, between the phones I was thinking of sending both are unlocked, and forget about 3G, these are budget phones: barely £20-£30

Either :

Trium Mars - SIM Free

Mitsubishi

or

Motorola M3588 - SIM Free

Motorola

It'd look kinda bad if I sent one of them and it didn't work!

9

^ Did your friend get his mobile unlocked?

10

The phones are sim free so theres no need to unlock them ..

11

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Zakk: *
The phones are sim free so theres no need to unlock them ..
[/QUOTE]

Come again??

I just got a phone for a 2 yr old, which was sim free as well, and didn't need unlocking!

12

Zakk

Mobilink JAZZ [most popular service provider] uses GSM, its best to send unlocked triband GSM

nokia phones work with these

others like Instaphone use another type of phone called AMPS

13

Zakk, as long as it's dual band it wud work fine...

unlock the phone to all networks and u wud have no problem wotsoever... i think O2/BT Cellnet and Virgin phones are all compatable so u wont even need them unlocked but better be safe than sorry...

3G's are crap so allow them... they hardly any good in UK let alone pak...

Nokia's are ur best option...

ebay.co.uk is the place to be if u want a phat phone for less...