Wi-fi & Blackberry access at NRT
 

Hello,

I have a trip coming up, DCA-JFK-NRT-CAN. I would like to know if I can use my AT&T Blackberry 8820 (EDGE & Wi-Fi enabled) in NRT, since my wait for the connecting flight is a few hours.

Thanks!

JR

I've heard NRT has blackberry service but it didn't work for me (T-mobile) last week. They have open wifi at a reasonable price and a bunch of partners.

You can go through security and rent a mobile phone for a reasonable price if that fits your needs.

Given Japan and Korea operate on a different cell system from the rest of the world's international standard, not to mention the archaic US dominant system, I am not sure how a Blackberry from outside those two countries could work.

AU by KDDI :
On April 1, 2002, au (by KDDI) launched CDMA 1X brand using CDMA2000 1x technology. On November 28, 2003, au launched EV-DO service in the CDMA 1X WIN brand. au currently providing a EV-DO Rev.A network, the first carrier to do so.

NTTDocomo:
The world's first commercial W-CDMA service, FOMA, was launched by NTT DoCoMo in Japan in 2001.WCDMA (DoCoMo)

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) officially selected Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) as one of the global telecom systems for the new IMT-2000 3G mobile communications standard. NTT DoCoMo is using an ARIB standardised WCDMA solution. NEC, Ericsson and Lucent were chosen as suppliers to the 3G network named FOMA.

FOMA WCDMA Technical summary

Frequency band:1920-1980 and 2110-2170 MHz (Frequency Division Duplex) UL and DL
Minimum frequency band required: 2x5MHz
Chip rate: 4.096 Mcps
Number of slots / frame: 1

Japan's CDMA operates on a different band so US CDMA phones don't work there. DoCoMo and Softbank are using WCDMA/UMTS so most WCDMA/UMTS phones work there.

This 8820 appears to be GSM only so it doesn't work on the phone systems in Japan. But WiFi should work in NRT.

Wi-Fi DOES work in Narita, at least on a laptop. :)

Unless you're in the RCC where the connection can be sketchy at times.

Take a look at this official guide for the WiFi area in NRT and its supported service providers.
For one-time users, BizPortal may be convenient and costs only JPY500/24hrs.