Z3 D6603 in Japan

[Zakowsky]

Has anyone successfully used an unlocked Z3 D6603 in Japan with a local data only SIM card? I realize it should in theory work as the phone has B1 and B3 LTE bands, but I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has actually had success with this. Thanks!

[Thommo]

Contact Xperia care who may be able to offer a more official answer http://support.sonymobile.com/global-en/contactUs/

[Uliwooly]

• D6603: UMTS HSPA+ 850 (Band V), 900 (Band VIII), 1700 (Band IV), 1900 (Band II), 2100 (Band I) MHz; GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz; LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 13, 17, 20)

[Zakowsky]

I have contacted Sony several times on this, and the bottom line is they do not know - it is up to the providers to answer this. Docomo, SoftBank and the others don't know, because they have Japan specific models. I've been trying for months, but as an English speaker (and even for a Japanese speaker), it is hard to find out what regions have what band coverage. Docomo phones also have B19, and so if that is what is most important to have in Tokyo, then I might have problems. Plus there is the issue of an unlocked SIM versus unlocked bootloaders - is an unlocked SIM enough?

So that is why I've been hoping for someone with any real world experience.

[Uliwooly]

unlocked SIM phone it is not the same as unlocked bootloader. 

[Thommo]

You can have SIM unlocked phones but this is not the same as Band and Country unlocked

[Zakowsky]

Just to restate my original post, I'm simply asking if anyone has used a Docomo, SoftBank, eConnect, b-moible, or any other Japanese data SIM cards in a D6603. As I said, I know an unlocked SIM does not always guarantee that a specific carriers SIM will work with the phone, plus there is the issue with the lack of B19 - those are the questions. So if anyone has traveled to Japan with this phone, I would appreciate hearing about your experiences, and there are probably other people that would benefit from this knowledge as well. Thank you.

[stankinaz69]

So did you find out if the D6603 works in Japan?