“How do I get a phone plan in Korea?”
If you’re coming to Korea or are already here, one of the first things on your mind is probably getting 3G. You would want to keep in contact with your new friends, navigate the streets of Korea and be able to message Mum on the subway.
I brought an unlocked UK iPhone 5 with me in February 2014 when I came to Korea. I purchased a pre-paid SIM from Olleh. If you’re in the same boat then you’re in luck. I will tell you what I did, how I got connected and how I top-up my phone every month.
I am a customer with Olleh, which is part of the KT network. I only realised that it’s ‘hello’ spelt backwards many months later.
This is the English edition of the Olleh website and it’s very useful.
If you click on ‘Global Stores’, you can find a store that should have at least one salesperson who speaks English (amongst other languages). In the first week after settling into my apartment, I went to my nearest Global store, Sinchon. A salesperson said he didn’t speak English, yet he was fine and he managed to set up my plan. I just needed a passport to purchase the Prepaid Standard plan. There is also a rule that you need to be in the country for at least a couple of days to purchase a phone plan. I chose Prepaid Standard.
I paid 30,000W for 6 months’ credit. I renewed it when this was due to expire in the summer and after that I bought 12 months’ credit for 50,000W. I have only used 20,000W in calls and texts in 16 months and most of that was a for a phone call to the British Student Loans Company. I don’t text, I don’t phone people. The only service I use is data.
I pay 22,5000W every month for 2GB worth of data. At first, I reached the end of the month and had plenty of data remaining. Nowadays, I have an allowance of almost 0MB when it’s time to renew, as the usage period only lasts 30 days.
You can check how much credit and how much data you have left by phoning. #0. Hang up when you hear the tone and you will receive a text from 114 saying how much of both you have left and also when both are due to expire. You can work out which one is which by looking at the screen capture below.
At first, I made the journeys to the Hongdae, Sinchon and Gangnam Global Stores, to top up my data a few days before my allowance was up. Sometimes I had to wait 40 minutes to see a salesperson. These days I phone up ‘1583′ from my phone to speak to an English assistant at Olleh, which is a whole lot more easier. They are open Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm.
It’s practically the same conversation every time. They ask a few security questions. I ask them to recharge 2GB worth of data. They ask ‘are you sure?’ as I have a little data remaining. I reply, ‘yes, that’s fine as my allowance runs out tomorrow and I don’t want to be without data’. They remove my current allowance; ask for my debit card details; charge me and then within 10 minutes I get a text message saying I have 2048MB of data remaining. Voila, I have my data and I can Kakao away for the next month.
What really helps me stop haemorrhaging data is having access to Olleh public wi-fi. For some reason, I have to be put onto the public wi-fi network every time I recharge my data. I phone up 1583, ask to be put back onto the public network, Olleh asks me for my iPhone’s wi-fi address and within two hours I receive a text saying I’m back on the network. Using the public wi-fi is a lifesaver on the subway.
I hope I’ve helped someone. So, with Olleh, it costs you 22,500w a month for 2GB, fairly cheap and definitely useful if you have a phone you can bring from your home country to Korea. There’s no contract either which is a big bonus. If you have any questions about this, then give me a bell.
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