I was looking at T-Phone and they seemed to have good prices and better-fluent English!
So would it be best to try and get it taken care of before I leave the airport? Or go to one of the main offices for one of the large phone companies?
Bumping this because the store I was looking at (they deal through Taiwan Mobile) said I cannot do any kind of contract because my ARC has less than two years on it (I have 9 months left because it was good for one year, I thought this was how all ARCs work?).
Can anyone recommend a company that will give a contract (I want to get a smart phone and data plan)?
Yeah I am thinking I will have to go with a pre-paid. I will be arriving in about a months time so I will update this topic with my efforts and hopefully successes!
When i arrived last summer, i had a new iPhone 3Gs from Taiwan Mobile (MyPhone) within 4 days. At that time I had: no job, no ARC, not even a permanent residence.
I went to the store located here:
[googlemaps]25.037012,121.557683[/googlemaps]]
Terms: 2 year contract, 14 months paid up front. all they needed was my passport.
I have no idea what all of this ‘no ARC, no phone’ business is all about?
When I came to Taiwan (11 years ago), foreigners were not allowed to get cell phone service. Taiwan law required people to have citizenship in order to get service. Foreigners had to bring their own phone into the country and use “roaming” all the time. So my employer got a SIM card that was registered to the company and I used it until the laws were changed (less than 5 years ago, I believe). Potential problem: confusion & mis-information because many Taiwanese only know about the old law and they have not heard about the changes.
Forgot to mention: I purchased my current cell phone from a local store and got my SIM card from Chungwah Telecom. They have many offices and usually a few of the employees have pretty good English skills. I have perpetual service (monthly billing, no contract) and pricing is just as good as the other carriers (Far East Tone, Taiwan Mobile). I only needed to provide my passport and NT$3,000 deposit.
You got my hopes up Maceck! I went to that store tonight but they only told me what I’ve been hearing all over the cities from all the Taiwan mobile/FarEastones ARC is required and has to be over one year from expiring. (Which if your boss only gives you an ARC for a year at a time and renews it is totally lame.) I’m going to have to have my friend sign up and get the bill sent to me, but it’s annoying because I won’t be able to make changes/call about a bill, etc.
Hm…you seem to be really unlucky with this!
Have you tried going with your friend (I guess he/she is a local?) and getting them to help you explain what you want (and be a bit pushy if necessary)?
Did you try the big FarEastone shop which is near Taipei Main station (behind the Mitsukoshi department store)?
It is definitely possible to get a phone contract without an ARC, if you leave a deposit, use a credit card etc.
Ben
You can get one through MyFone if you put some effort into it. I can’t remember if my International Licence did the trick (I don’t think so) but I got a pre-paid that allows you to buy 5 days of unlimited data at a time, etc. Pretty reasonable, considering the ridiculous mobile fees we pay in the West! I think it was a store past the big SoGo on Zhongxiao Fuxing, beside a Vibo…memory is a little foggy!