Setting up my Droid X to work on China Telecom

[arothme1]

Hi everyone, I really need help with this. I Have a Droid X phone from Verizon I also have root access on it. In December I will be going to China for 8 months and I want to still use my Droid X phone, but not on Verizon Wireless because their international rates for China are crazy. I know one wireless phone company in China that is China Telecom and they use CDMA technology on their network and also have EVDO. Also I know they sell phones on their network that are also Motorola Android phones. I was wondering if there is any way I could set my Droid X phone to work on their wireless network? Of course I will have a wireless subscription with China Telecom when I am trying to have my Droid X work on their network. Please can anyone help me with this I really want to know how I would go about switching the wireless carrier on my Droid X to China Telecom because I really want to keep using my Droid X phone when I am in China.dancedroid

 

[FranklinWalker]

are you chinese?

 

[spaz33g]

are you chinese?

Relevence? Anyway i've never heard about anyone doing that but if its possible someone will be around here to help you.

Sent from my DROID2 using DroidForums App

 

[arothme1]

are you chinese?

Relevence? Anyway i've never heard about anyone doing that but if its possible someone will be around here to help you.

Sent from my DROID2 using DroidForums App

Yah thanks, I really hope someone here knows how to do this and can help me with it.
To Franklin: No I'm a White American haha but I can read, write and speak Chinese. I'm going to China to study Chinese at a college there for 1 semester. That's why I want to still be able to use my Droid X... I don't think I can go 8 months without my Droid X :frown:

 

[jelyman]

I don't think it's possible but I'm not 100% sure. When the X is given it's chips, they're created to interact with Verizon's network specifically (hence the ability to dial *228 and go specifically to a Verizon-sanctioned service and the lack of a SIM card) You couldn't do that with another carrier's phone and have it sync up on Verizon. China Telecom may have a way to program their phones similar to Verizon based on network similarities but your X is hard-coded at the baseband level to be a part of the VZW family.

(again, not 100% sure; more like 90%)

 

[arothme1]

I don't think it's possible but I'm not 100% sure. When the X is given it's chips, they're created to interact with Verizon's network specifically (hence the ability to dial *228 and go specifically to a Verizon-sanctioned service and the lack of a SIM card) You couldn't do that with another carrier's phone and have it sync up on Verizon. China Telecom may have a way to program their phones similar to Verizon based on network similarities but your X is hard-coded at the baseband level to be a part of the VZW family.

(again, not 100% sure; more like 90%)

The only thing is I did find some other post similar to my problem also posted on the droid forums. This person also wanted to use their phone on China Telecom although the directions the person got to solving to problem are not clear to me.. can anyone look at that thread and see if they can explain it to me better? the thread is this: http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-x-general-discussions/66477-droid-x-different-carrier.html

Thanks

 

[yangj08]

I know this is an absolutely ancient thread, but as someone who had to help someone else out with this (and succeeded... to a degree), let me put in my two cents so that anyone else that wants to will have an English-language resource.

First off, yes, you can get an American Droid X functioning on China Telecom. However, China Telecom uses R-UIM cards (SIM-equivalent for CDMA) and there's no slot for such a card on the Droid X so you have two ways of doing it.

1. Take it to a CDMA specialist shop, where your phone will be modified to have a R-UIM slot like the local-market model. This is a one-way modification; there is no guarantee it will function when you return, even if you stick in a Verizon SIM. Then it's just a matter of buying a China Telecom R-UIM and stuffing it in the new slot. PRL and EVDO login info all included in the SIM, no further work needed, and it supports numbers from all regions of China. Easy peasy, but only good if you plan on staying long-term or selling it on within China. Because this person was an exchange student and would be leaving in a semester, the following was used instead:

2. Program in the China Telecom data. This is a toughie because of how their R-UIMs work; each has its own MEID which identifies to the network; the device MEID is, as far as I know, irrelevant. China Telecom only has these cards loaded into their device database and is also only willing to change its device database (via "trusted" third parties) in certain regions, Shanghai being one of many that won't. If your region won't, then you have to do something to make your phone match an entry in their database, which is not legal to do in the US. Motorolas are also resistant to this, so an unmodified Droid X is limited to getting a number from one of the regions that will allow changes in their database.

Here's how it went down for this student:

1. Find a seller that will help you with a device database modification with activation. I found one online.

2. Select a phone number and pay for it. Tell the seller you want them to modify their local China Telecom's device database (改局端, gai3 ju2 duan1) to fit your phone.

3. You will receive back with your purchase the necessary info; the IMSI (first ten digits are the MDN, last ten digits are the MIN; yes, there's overlap), the A-KEY, and the AN/AAA login for EVDO. You will not have any sort of data service if you don't flash in the China Telecom PRL, however (this student was OK with just calling and texting). The seller assumes you will look up the Home SID/NID yourself, but the databases are all in Chinese, so ask the seller to supply you with that too.

4. Enter "service mode" on the Droid X and put in the MDN, MIN, home SID/NID, and A-Key. This will give you access to voice/text.

5. Let it sit for a day or two; changing the China Telecom device database is far from quick. You'll know it succeeded when you get two texts in Chinese from the phone number 10000, welcoming you to China Telecom (and to not paying a fortune in roaming fees).

This student was unwilling to fiddle around with flashing PRLs or additional programming (you need to plug it into a computer and use certain tools to put in the China Telecom PRL and EVDO login) so my story ends here- after a tense night of waiting, his $16 activation fee was not spent in vain and he managed to get voice service for much cheaper than the others (seriously, that one-time fee covered 100 minutes and 100 texts a month for a year; try getting THAT kind of pricing out of any American provider).