Unlocked iPhone data + voice for 2800 yen/mo with MNP discounts on Docomo

[takun]

I've been looking at my options to bring my unlocked iPhone 4s to Japan.
I was pretty sure I was just going to have to do voice + pocketwifi, until I found this recent post where a guy uses a bangkok bought iPhone 4S on Docomo.

http://shimajiro-mobiler.net/2012/05/22/post10796/

国内での利用方法としては、MNPで契約したXi回線で、d ocomo回線の月々サポートの割引金額が大きい回線があるので、普通に音声通話 + データ通信をXiの音声契約の回線で常用する予定。

■Xiの料金プランで利用した場合の月額料金シミュレーション
タイプXiにねん：780円／月
Xiパケ・ホーダイ フラット：5,985円／月
ISP代(mopera U)：525円／月
月々サポート(F-01D契約)：▲2,415円／月
MNP契約による月々サポート：▲2,100円／月
――――――――――――――――
月額料金：2,770円～／月

I thought MNP was just when you switched providers, but my reading of this blog is that you can take advantage of the contract without having a previous plan.
Anyone have experience with that?
I also don't know what he means by F-01D契約. The 月々サポート discount requires a contract of course, but I'm not sure of the length (it just says 申し込み必要 on their site).

Does this seem legit? If so it's a pretty good deal.

[Kionon]

I've been looking at my options to bring my unlocked iPhone 4s to Japan.
I was pretty sure I was just going to have to do voice + pocketwifi, until I found this recent post where a guy uses a bangkok bought iPhone 4S on Docomo.

http://shimajiro-mobiler.net/2012/05/22/post10796/

I thought MNP was just when you switched providers, but my reading of this blog is that you can take advantage of the contract without having a previous plan.
Anyone have experience with that?
I also don't know what he means by F-01D契約. The 月々サポート discount requires a contract of course, but I'm not of the length (it just says 申し込み必要）on their site.

Does this seem legit? so it's a pretty good deal.

If you can read a substantial amount of Japanese, far more than I can, this should walk you through the process, assuming you have an officially unlocked iPhone:

http://www.sim-free-iphone.com/home/prepare

[takun]

If you can read a substantial amount of Japanese, far more than I can, this should walk you through the process, assuming you have an officially unlocked iPhone:

http://www.sim-free-iphone.com/home/prepare

Thanks for the info. That site uses a similar plan through docomo, but they don't get near the same level of discounts (only 1050 yen vs the blog's ~4500) so the price comes out to 5800 yen:
http://www.sim-free-iphone.com/home/prepare/docomoplan

基本使用料 タイプXiにねん \780
パケット定額 Xiパケホーダイフラット \4410
付加機能 moperaU スタンダードプラン \525
その他 ユニバーサルサービス料 \7
合計 \5,722
2012年1月27日に、Xiパケット定額サービスの1050円割引が2012年9月30日まで延長されました� B

[Kionon]

Yeah, I hadn't heard about the discounts, and I'm paying 5750円 or something with Softbank. Between the price and the fact a lot of features don't work with Docomo, I decided to go with Softbank. I'm also in the middle of a city, so I don't have service issues.

I'm just trying to figure out how to get rid of my Softbank iPhone 4 that I have which appears to be currently not unlockable. The person I bought it from ended up being TOO nice. After he wiped its data, he upgraded everything to the most recent firmware and baseband. Which of course means, while it is Jailbroken since a 5.1.1 untethered jailbreak just came out a few weeks ago, the baseband is 4.12.01 (and current software unlock methods are only up to 4.10.01). I'm also not sure I can actually get rid of it, since the Softbank guy scanned the IMEI, and I'm not sure if that was a formality to check that the IMEI belonged to Softbank, or if the IMEI is now locked to my service and I can't sell the phone...

I'm planning to get an iPhone 5 here soon enough anyway when it comes out. I always skip a generation (2G, 3GS, 4S).

[takun]

For completeness, these pages show how the blog poster managed to get the 2800yen/mo deal, apparently multiple times.
http://shimajiro-mobiler.net/2012/03/18/post9253/
http://shimajiro-mobiler.net/2012/04/09/post10069/

Basically, he bought a ARROWS Tab LTE(F-01D) for 30,000 yen with subscription under docomo, moved the service to another provider, and then used the MNP campaign offer to go back to docomo, using the sim with the iPhone with apparently no issues.
I guess you could sell the tablet to recoup the 30,000 hit.
He also says the campaign was going to end in may, but they keep extending it.
It's not as simple as I hoped but I guess this is still a pretty good deal for people that don't have termination fees.

[evilone]

These loopholes, which I've mentioned on GP several months ago (the cash kickbacks of up to 60,000 yen for MNP) have pretty much been closed now. (People were flipping the maximum 5 lines at once on a continuous basis and making a healthy profit doing it)