PAYG Sim for Data usage question(s)

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Hotentott

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Hi All

when i was last in SA, last year January, i bought 2 Vodacom PAYG sim cards for phone usage whilst i was there, they were not used for data. I will be returning next month (February 2010) and was wondering

1. Will these sims still be active? If not can they be reactivated or do i need to buy new ones?

2. If they are active, i plan to use one for phone and the 2nd in my HSDPA card for data, do i need to do anything to get it data enabled?

3. Once data enabled, do i top up as normal i.e. buy top up credit and put it on the card (using a phone)

i will probably only need to use then data card when i am out of town for a long weekend (3/4 days) and only for using skype (to keep in touch with the other half back home whilst away on my "fishing" trip

any other advice on what i could do would be most useful e.g. if i would need to purchase a new sim card, is Vodacom the best option in terms of price per Mb and coverage (i will be in Kenton-On-Sea)

many thanks in advance
 
Nope

Hotentot_UK said:
Hi All

when i was last in SA, last year January, i bought 2 Vodacom PAYG sim cards for phone usage whilst i was there, they were not used for data. I will be returning next month (February 2010) and was wondering

1. Will these sims still be active? If not can they be reactivated or do i need to buy new ones?

2. If they are active, i plan to use one for phone and the 2nd in my HSDPA card for data, do i need to do anything to get it data enabled?

3. Once data enabled, do i top up as normal i.e. buy top up credit and put it on the card (using a phone)

i will probably only need to use then data card when i am out of town for a long weekend (3/4 days) and only for using skype (to keep in touch with the other half back home whilst away on my "fishing" trip

any other advice on what i could do would be most useful e.g. if i would need to purchase a new sim card, is Vodacom the best option in terms of price per Mb and coverage (i will be in Kenton-On-Sea)

many thanks in advance
Click to expand...

Probably not going to be active - theres this wonderful thing called RICA thats been implemented in this country for all sims - it means you have to prove you are the owner of the sim via proof of residence(letter addressed to your home) Best you get a friend here to help you with that.

Not sure about the other questions you have.
 
thanks for the reply majikns

i wasnt aware of this new RICA thing but have been doing some reading on it, seems a rather odd idea...

i cant seem to find any info relating to visitors to SA or non residents on how they are able to purchase PAYG sim cards, surely there must be an allowance for the hundreds of thousands of football fans expected later in the year, and any other visitor for that matter,,,guess i will have to visit a voda or MTN store to get the low down once i arrive

any chance you know if they still do the rediculously cheap sim cards at places like clicks?
 
Hotentot_UK said:
thanks for the reply majikns

i wasnt aware of this new RICA thing but have been doing some reading on it, seems a rather odd idea...

i cant seem to find any info relating to visitors to SA or non residents on how they are able to purchase PAYG sim cards, surely there must be an allowance for the hundreds of thousands of football fans expected later in the year, and any other visitor for that matter,,,guess i will have to visit a voda or MTN store to get the low down once i arrive

any chance you know if they still do the rediculously cheap sim cards at places like clicks?
Click to expand...

Maybe ocleroux or VodacomData can comment on what visitors to SA will need to do for RICA. Most retail outlets do still sell 99c SIMs.
 
Answer to your first question....I highly doubt that the sims will still be active. Due to ICASA regulations, Vodacom has a duty to keep number usage low, in otherwords, new number ranges that is required like 082, 076 etc must be kept to a minimum. Due to this requirement from ICASA, Vodacom and other networks recycle numbers when a number is considered inactive. So the number that you had back then would most likely have been recycled and given to someone else.

Regarding RICA, yes, you can either get a friend to help you out, so he can register the SIM with his details and proof of physical address. What I have also heard is some hotels will issue their guests with letters etc stipulating that you are in fact residing with them for a certain time period etc etc. I am not sure if this is actually enough to allow you to register your number for RICA though, as with all the Vodacom memo's and training I have received, you are still required to provide proof of physical address via utility bill or bank statement, telkom fixed line bill etc to prove that the address is in fact legit.

I would say getting a friend to register the number for you would be the easier route to follow but perhaps enquire with your hotel also as to with what they would be willing to provide for you in regards to RICA registration.

Regarding the question of if there is anything extra you need to to do to enable the sim/number for data - No, you dont need to do anything. All numbers are provisioned for data by default once activated by the system. All you need to do is buy a data bundle according to your needs to make sure that you get the lower rate per meg, else you will be charged the R2.00 per meg.

Regards:
OC
 
many thanks for your detailed response ocleroux, much appreciated

i will get a mate to go shopping with me when i go to get a sim then as i wont be staying in a hotel, but at my brothers house, he wont be there though

thanks again
 
Hi again

i have managed to secure a pre Rica'ed Vodacom sim card which i will pick up on my arrival, so my plan is now to use this single sim in my iphone, so i can use it for both phone and data. as already mentioned, i will be using the data side very little, probably for skype chat and maybe uploading pictures (taken from iphone +- 700kb) to facebook etc can you advise what sort of data bundle i would need to purchase or is the data taken from the standard top up i would need to put on in order to make calls etc?

once again, thanks for all your help
 
Hotentot_UK said:
Hi again

i have managed to secure a pre Rica'ed Vodacom sim card which i will pick up on my arrival, so my plan is now to use this single sim in my iphone, so i can use it for both phone and data. as already mentioned, i will be using the data side very little, probably for skype chat and maybe uploading pictures (taken from iphone +- 700kb) to facebook etc can you advise what sort of data bundle i would need to purchase or is the data taken from the standard top up i would need to put on in order to make calls etc?

once again, thanks for all your help
Click to expand...

Where was this Iphone bought? If you want to use your Iphone for data, then you will need the Vodacom settings put onto it so that it may use the Vodacom data network.

I guess 250 meg or so @ R139.00? If you dont load a data bundle, then Vodacom will just deduct the data usage from your normal airtime, but then it will be R2.00 per meg.
 
hi ocleroux

my phone is from UK, i think i would probably go for the data bundle of 250 meg, do i just ask for that at a place that sells top ups?

as my phone is just the 2g version, i would probably need the EDGE PAYG APN settings for VC
 
Hotentot_UK said:
hi ocleroux

my phone is from UK, i think i would probably go for the data bundle of 250 meg, do i just ask for that at a place that sells top ups?

as my phone is just the 2g version, i would probably need the EDGE PAYG APN settings for VC
Click to expand...

U just buy airtime @ a shop or ATM for R139 and then you dial *111# from your phone and follow the instructions to convert the airtime to data bundle. Easy peasy.

Does not matter if you use GPRS/EDGE/3G/HSDPA....they all use the same settings. But I do not know how to do it manually anymore as all Vodacom supplied phones nowadays comes with the settings preloaded. Someone on here might be able to assist though. VD, you know how to do the settings manually on the Iphone?
 
thanks, i think the settings are in Settings>General>Network>Cellular Data Network in there there are 3 fields, name APN | Username | Password that require to be entered

funny thin is, ive used this phone on various UK networks and have never had to enter anything in there in order to get EDGE

i have read in another thread on this forum that the settings for Vodacom are APN = internet, Username = blank, Password = blank
 
You need to receive a call or sms once every 7months for it to be active. RICA for existing numbers will only be shut down December 2010
 
ocleroux said:
Answer to your first question....I highly doubt that the sims will still be active. Due to ICASA regulations, Vodacom has a duty to keep number usage low, in otherwords, new number ranges that is required like 082, 076 etc must be kept to a minimum. Due to this requirement from ICASA, Vodacom and other networks recycle numbers when a number is considered inactive. So the number that you had back then would most likely have been recycled and given to someone else.
Click to expand...

cavedog said:
You need to receive a call or sms once every 7months for it to be active.
Click to expand...

Oh im sorry, dit I not make this clear in MY post? :p:p:p
 
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