Greece HSPA (prepaid and postpaid offers)

[Evan]

Originally Posted by DaveRo

I'm using Cosmote internet pass 60 (Cosmokarte) because I can subscribe by SMS from this Nexus Android tablet. It would be cheaper to use internet pass 200 - which currently offers 500MB - but for that I would have to ring 1330 (I tried an SMS with '200' and '500' - doesn't work) which means moving the SIM into a phone and back so I haven't tried it.

Can anyone tell me what happens when you ring 1330? Is it a multiple-choice selection? Is it only in Greek? Any other way of subscribing?

That’s strange. I checked on a Greek forum and they claim that they can use the Internet Monthly Pass 200 by sending an SMS with '500' to 1330.

Alternatively, check my (old) overview on Cosmote here. Back then, there was again the same 500MB offer which was activated by sending '500' to 1333 not to 1330. So you can try the first number instead.

Another option is to activate it by ringing 1330 and see if they have an English language voice prompt. I’m not in Greece at the moment so I can’t check that out. Or you could call the customer service by ringing 13838 where they certainly have English speaking operators and they can certainly activate that internet option for you.

One last and more permanent option is to download the Cosmote What’s Up App from Google Play and activate/deactivate all the available data/voice/sms add-ons or check your remaining MBs/mins/SMS directly from there. If you don’t want to download the App, you can have almost the same functionality by visiting the site m.whatsup.gr from your Android browser.

I’m not sure if the above are available in English but it is relatively easy to activate the 500MB add-on. Just click the top link on the first page and then scroll down to the '500MB for 5€' option. But since both the App and the m.whatsup.gr work only with the What’s Up product, if you have the Cosmokarta instead of the What’s Up prepaid product, you can switch for free to What’s Up by sending an SMS (more info here).

[DaveRo]

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.

[Evan]

Originally Posted by DaveRo

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

[real_goose]

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.

[DaveRo]

Originally Posted by Evan

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

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

[real_goose]

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.

[DaveRo]

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.

[Evan]

Originally Posted by DaveRo

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

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.

Originally Posted by DaveRo

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

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

[real_goose]

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.

[real_goose]

Originally Posted by real_goose

Frog Mobile from CosmOTE (http://www.frogmobile.gr/en/default.aspx) still lists expiry as 6 months (180 days).

The Frog recharge number had a notice that as of June 26, expiry is now 90 days. Some time this week the web site was finally updated to 90 day expiry. I also notice that Cosmote Internet me karta also expires balances in 90 days.

Previously I would add extra credit to my Greek prepaid account just in case I needed them. I knew I could use the credit on the next trip. Now I will only put minimum amounts on the accounts and refill as little as possible as needed. More inconvenient, but not a problem for me.