Pre-paid SIM Card for Hong Kong

If you are planning a trip to Hong Kong, whether on business or pleasure, take with yourself a pre-paid SIM card for Hong Kong and save tons in your communication bills. This prepaid SIM card for Hong Kong is the most economical and convenient way for you to keep in touch with your friends locally and abroad, including your family back home.

The pre-paid SIM card for Hong Kong will carry a talk time credit when you buy one. This you would need to re-charge as you use up the limit. For this you can buy the re-charge vouchers from almost any shop in Hong Kong and use it to top up your call credits. Note that these credits are on the amount of time that you use to make your calls, and are not based on number of calls. These re-charge vouchers are available in different denominations and you may choose how much credit to buy.

While traveling to Hong Kong, you need to bear in mind that you shall need a GSM mobile handset to work with their network. You might have a GSM mobile phone with you, but it is doubtful if that handset will work in that country. Why? Because the GSM sets available at home does not correspond to the frequency bands that operate in Hong Kong. If you have a quad-band phone, you may be sure that it will work. Such a handset will work all over the world.

A quad handset is capable of working in the entire frequency band shown in the table. Hong Kong operates on frequency bands GSM 900 MHz and 1800 MHz. This is way out from the GSM frequencies that you have at home. There are two other types of handset that one can get, besides the quad band. These are Dual Band and Tri Band. The dual band handset is capable of operating in frequency bands of 800 MHz and 1900 MHz, while a tri band would work on 800 MHz, 900 MHz and 1800 MHz. Therefore instead of a quad band handset, you may carry with you a tri band mobile phone for comfortable operation in Hong Kong.

There is one more caution that you must take relating to the handset that you would be carrying with you. The mobile phone has to be SIM unlocked. This signifies that the handset would be working with any SIM card that you put in. In ordinary circumstances, when you chose a plan and sign a contract with a certain service provider, a handset usually comes free with the SIM card. The contract binds you to be with that particular service provider for a certain period of time. During this time, you will not be able to use any other SIM card other than the one provided to you by the service provider. In effect, your mobile phone is SIM locked, so that you can use only the SIM card provided. In the event you are buying or renting the appropriate handset for your use in Hong Kong along with the prepaid SIM card for Hong Kong, you must be sure that the phone is SIM unlocked.

The Real Estate Market in Hong Kong Today

The physical geographic restrictions of Hong Kong mean that there is a finite supply of residential and commercial real estate available for sale and rent; and as Hong Kong further strengthens its already robust economic, trade and investment ties with China, the demand for real estate in the region is intensifying.

Competing for space are multinational companies and their massive expatriate employee base, local businesses and local residents, tourists and students. In fact the demand for residential and commercial space in Hong Kong is at its highest today since the glory days pre-1998. Having suffered an acute recession from 1998 until 2003 real estate prices are for sale at deflated costs and are therefore seen as being undervalued which means the real estate market is in a great position right now to grow and expand.

Real estate investors from around the world are buying into the projected period of growth and are committing substantial funds to the Hong Kong market. In terms of any restrictions placed on foreign investors there are none in Hong Kong…in theory anyone is permitted to purchase property. As with all city based real estate economies property in Hong Kong – though currently considered to be undervalued – cannot be regarded as ‘cheap’. However anyone who wishes to get into the market can get mortgages locally in Hong Kong to purchase and can almost guarantee the rental income they will generate if they choose to buy residential or commercial units to let.

The medium term prospects for the real estate market in Hong Kong are good with analysis showing that the number of renovation and new development projects started in recent years is below what is required for the current level of demand. This undersupply will last for at least the next four years according to expert industry analysis. This has resulted in predictions for property price growth of up to 12% annually for at least the next four years, making the real estate market in Hong Kong today a highly attractive prospect.