I went to Greece in late April when Cosmote's website said you could use a '200' or '500' SMS so I expected it to work - I tried several times. But their website doesn't mention the SMS method now - except for 60MB.

I prefer SMS over online activation because I don't have to have an internet connection to start with. Presumably the Cosmote app works over the internet. I can send SMSes from my Nexus 7 with a modded messenger app.

I'm no longer in Greece, so I can't try the other methods until next year.

An update to my recent post about the currently available prepaid data plans and offers.

Two summer offers from Cosmote and Vodafone that give huge data volume for free:

• Cosmote: 1.5GB Mobile Internet for 15 days
  The offer is available from 29/07/2013 to 31/08/2013 and you can activate it by sending an SMS with the text 'surf' to 1256. More info here.
  
  
• Vodafone: 3GB Mobile Internet for 10 days
  The offer is available from 08/08/2013 to 18/08/2013 and it is automatically activated on your SIM card. More info (Google translated) here.

I topped up a Wind GR F2G SIM in April and the credit expires in April 2015. That's normal.
I topped up another one in June and it expires in December - 6 months. That's new. It's bad if, like me, you visit Greece once a year. The SIM always used to expire 12 months after the last topup.

Comokarte still seems to expire aftee 12 months.

Also Cosmokarta credit expires after 6 months. This bad 'trend' started by Vodafone on November 2012, followed by Wind and Cosmote last month.

It's important to know though that only the credit expires after 6 months. The validity of the SIM card is still 12 months. And this applies to all three operators.


More info, e.g. for Vodafone, here:

http://www.vodafone.gr/portal/client...=en&lang=en_EN

Wind Mobile Broadband 2014
 

Wind currently has an offer good until 31/8/2014 for a mobile broadband SIM at €14.90. It includes 30 days and 6GB data usage. (Their site says both 3 and 6 GB, but based on the SMS balance reply, it is 6 GB for me.)
http://www.wind.gr/en/for-individual...hout-contract/

Since I was used to the CosmOTE prepaid landing page, I was puzzled on how to activate it. I put it into my mobile broadband device and it started working. I wasn't sure what to do until I found the device received an SMS welcoming me. An SMS to 1228 with the command balance verified my 30 days had started.

Colleague reports that Cosmokarte credit still expiring after 12 months:
http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread...34#post4947534

The credit on my Frog Mobile from CosmOTE account did indeed expire in less than 12 months. I last updated in September 2014 and noted that the balance expiry was 6 months after the last top up. I had a voucher but I forgot to use it before arriving in Athens in May. The balance was zero, but no problem using the voucher to add credit. The number was still good.

I recently got a SMS 12 months after the last topup which said "...your connection will be deactivated tomorrow. In order to reactivate it you have to top it up within 30 days"

I was unable to top it up by SMS from the UK - I got 'service unavailable'.

I subsequently had an email from Cosmote 'customer care' recently which said:
"... we would like to inform you that the amount balance has 6 months duration and not 12 months as it used to be." It didn't mention SIM expiry.

So I assume that the SIM still expires 12 months from the last topup, plus 30 days grace.

That's incorrect, perhaps he was looking at the expiration date of the SIM, not the one of the credit. It's confirmed from numerous sources that the credit was expiring after 6 months. I say "was" because the situation recently is worsened.

Yes that's correct. The SIM validity is still 12 months in all three Greek mobile operators.

However, since last month (Cosmote) and as of today (Vodafone) the credit is reduced further to 90 days. Wind still keeps it at 180 days but I don't think they'll keep it for long.

More info for Cosmote (in english) here:
http://www.cosmote.gr/cosmoportal/pa...ARTA/loc/en_US

And for Vodafone (Google translate) here:
http://translate.google.com/translat...l%3D&sandbox=1

Frog Mobile from CosmOTE (http://www.frogmobile.gr/en/default.aspx) still lists expiry as 6 months (180 days). I'll update if the recharge message indicates a shorter duration.