Korea wants to lend tourists a Samsung Galaxy Note 5
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| File photo - A Samsung Electronics Galaxy Note 5 smartphone is seen at the company's headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Oct. 27, 2015. (SAMSUNG-ELEC-RESULTS/ REUTERS/Kim Hong-J) |
South Korea is a very connected country, and it's home to two of the world's top mobile phone makers, Samsung and LG.
According to Samsung, the phone will be a Galaxy Note 5 and will also have free domestic calls and texting within Korea.
Here's where things get shifty, though: we can't tell you how to sign up for this program. When I contacted KTO about it, they said "the expected date for the service has been announced to be available around the end of February," so it looks like we're going to have to wait until then.
KTO wouldn't give any additional details, including whether the phones could make international calls.
All the major U.S. carriers now roam to South Korea with at least some of their existing phones, but your phone may not get an LTE connection. T-Mobile offers free low-speed data, which I found a bit frustrating the last time I was in Korea. Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T all have data packs that work with world-capable phones.
It's also very easy to rent phones at Incheon Airport. There's an SK Telecom rental center in the airport. Older phones such as a Galaxy S3 or iPhone 4 cost a mere $2.50 per day plus $5/day for 1GB/day of data allowance; local calls are a penny a second.
Still, though, the chance to get a Galaxy Note 5 for free may be too good to pass up. Keep an eye on the KTO website for more information; perhaps they'll put some up around the end of February as promised.
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