MTN SMS Roaming in the US

[talz]

Hey everybody.

I've spent some time searching, but have been unable to find anything that answers my question.
I apologise if there is in fact an answer that I have missed.

A friend of mine with an MTN contract (Samsung S8) activated SMS roaming before he left RSA for the US.
Upon arrival, he has discovered that he can receive SMSes, but he cannot send them. I spent half the day on the phone with five different MTN consultants, walking him through the various steps to trouble shoot. Luckily he was able to use the hotel's WIFI to whatsapp.

The message centre number in his message settings are correct.
Nothing is barring him from sending or receiving messages.
He has rebooted the phone twice.
MTN says his SMS roaming IS active and they cannot see any problems on their side.
MTN has 'logged and escalated' the issue.

Unfortunately the problem has not been resolved. He will be spending some time on the road with little to no access to WIFI so he really needs to be able to send SMSes.

Can anybody out there give any advice, please?

Thanks guys.

 

[moedawood]

Is he on contract?

Check his airtime balance. Roaming may not use the sms bundle and require the use of airtime instead.

 

[andycathb]

I have tried this on numerous occasions and at best it is hit and miss.. in some countries it never works. in others I receive sms eg bank payment notices but cant send . often works one day and not the next. very frustrating "service"

 

[Jola]

Had the same with Vodacom in Canada, but they managed to fix it from SA.

SMS roaming had been activated,

Some routing problem between ISP's.