By Jennifer H.
This article is for all the American readers. We tend to live in a bubble when it comes to almost everything outside of the United States. We tend to think about either purchasing cell phones and contracts for service, or prepaid phones and simply buying more minutes. Well, what about renting?
I found a company in Japan that allows you to rent a cell with a pre-registered number and a certain amount of minutes (which is based on how many days you rent the phone): PuPuRu. What is nice is that if you happen to run out of minutes, incoming calls are still received. When the rental period is up, simply mail the phone back in a prepaid envelope.
To rent a mobile all one needs is some identification (a passport) and a credit card. More information can be found on their website: locations, types of phones, application, and terms and conditions.
To the OhGizmo international readers, are there any other countries that rent cell phones?
Anyway, for a ridiculously complicated price breakdown, go inside.
Well, price determination needs an equation. For those who hate mathematics, I’m sorry.
[(Basic Fee + Rental Fee x Rental Days) + Plan A, B, or C] x number of phones + Postage = Payment
Basic Fee: 2625 Yen ? $23 USD
Rental Fee: 399 Yen ? $3.50 USD
Plans
A 3150 Yen for 1-30 days
B 6300 Yen for 31-60 days
C 9450 Yen for 61-90 days
? $28, $55, $83 USD respectively
Also, it seems phone insurance is optional and it is 525 Yen, or about $4.60 USD. If this all seems reasonably priced, PuPuRu claims to be the least expensive phone rental plan in Japan.
