Greece HSPA (prepaid and postpaid offers)

[dognaldo]

Hi,
I am from Brazil and will go to Greece for 3 weeks in July (1 week in Athens and 2 weeks in the islands).
Is there a Cosmote or Wind store where i can buy a prepaid data sim for my usb key in Athenas Internacional Airport (ATH) ? I will use same sim in my tablet and netbook.
Thanks.

[Evan]

Originally Posted by timmfive

Bottom line: don't bother with Q anymore. Go with WIND. 500MB for €5.
(but things seem to change alot in Greece so stay tuned!)

Keep in mind that the "500MB for 5€" is just an offer that was originally valid until 31 March. Few days ago, it was extended until 30 April 2011.

Originally Posted by tariq

@Evan - or anyone else who knows.

I see all the operators have the "500MB". Is it still valid for any operator? I arrive to Greece on 20.4 for 2 weeks to sail between the islands and I was hoping to use the offer.

I would appreciate any suggestion on what to choose (i'll be using my ipad most probably).

You mean the "500MB for 5€" offer that all four operators had? This offer ended on 31 March for Cosmote and Vodafone but Wind extended it for one more month.

What to choose depends on which operator has the best coverage on the places you plan to visit and second, on how much data you estimate you will consume. You can have a look on the links of my signature and let us know if you have additional questions.

A quick suggestion could be the "COSMOTE Internet On The Go me karta" plan but I don't know if they have Micro-SIMs with that plan for your iPad.
COSMOTE: Mobile Internet on your computer

Originally Posted by dognaldo

Hi,
I am from Brazil and will go to Greece for 3 weeks in July (1 week in Athens and 2 weeks in the islands).
Is there a Cosmote or Wind store where i can buy a prepaid data sim for my usb key in Athenas Internacional Airport (ATH) ? I will use same sim in my tablet and netbook.
Thanks.

For Cosmote, there is a Germanos store at the Arrivals Level of the airport. Wind doesn't have an airport store but if you plan to be in Athens for 1 week, you can look for shops in the center of Athens.

[OldBawley]

Rhodes town. Wind shop. Friendly salesman. Want to buy a prepaid broadband stick and a 30 days start. Sailing the small islands of the Dodecanese, i now it wil be inpossible to find the Airtime Renewal Scratch Cards, so i decide to take two 30 € cards with me, in order to charge up on the way. The salesman explanes that ading a new card only charges the data amount, NOT the days.
he schows it to me on his ( Greek ) monitor. So only activate new scratch card after the other is expired.
Problem no cards availeble on Rhodes, kiosk vendor explains that those cards are not available. Greeks charge with some kiosk electronic thingy. Not possible in a deserted bay on a small island.
Cosmothe and vodaphone : Only charge up in store. No store.

[DaveRo]

My experience last year is that the scratch cards are becoming obsolete, though some kiosks (periptero) still had some. Look for a 'payzone' sign at newsagents and similar shops. They sell you a recharge for whatever value you like and give you a paper receipt with the 16-digit number. You send the number by SMS when you want to use it - the details are printed on the receipt (in Greek, of course). I've done this with Wind and Cosmote.

Sometimes the credit you get is less than the amount you pay. Maybe it depends where you buy them - commission?

[kuba.g]

Been to Greece last week and bought Cosmote (because of the widest 3G coverage).

Paid €5 for the simcard, which includes €1 and then €1/month for the following 4 months (finally making the simcard free).
I needed to show my passport and the salesman was so kind to call the customer service for me from his phone to make them change the 1314-menu (which is free in Greece) to English

Activating the 60MB package wasn't a problem. Internet worked very well.
What didn't work though is checking how much MB's were left to be used. To do this, one should send an SMS "INFO" to 1313, according to: COSMOTE: CIOTP for prepaid Customers
When I did so I received the following message back: "Η ΥΠHPEΣIA ΠOY ZHTHΣATE ΔEN YΠAPXEI", using Google Translate I can't really figure out what it means

Is it true there is no *101# - like code to check the account status in Cosmote? I found the only way to check it is by sending "YP" and "LIXI" to 1314 which is free in Greece, but is charged for when in roaming...

Also, where do I find information about extending the validity of the card? Mine is valid until april 2012. How much does one need to recharge to extend this? (I couldn't find this information on their website).

[Evan]

Originally Posted by wisniak

My question is, every time I turn off the iphone and turn it on again, i'm required to unlick the Sim using the PIN cide provided in the envelope.

Hiw can I permanently unlick it?

All phones have the option of disabling the SIM PIN. On iPhone go to Settings > Phone > SIM PIN and slide the slider to "Off".

Originally Posted by kuba.g

Activating the 60MB package wasn't a problem. Internet worked very well.
What didn't work though is checking how much MB's were left to be used. To do this, one should send an SMS "INFO" to 1313, according to: COSMOTE: CIOTP for prepaid Customers
When I did so I received the following message back: "Η ΥΠHPEΣIA ΠOY ZHTHΣATE ΔEN YΠAPXEI", using Google Translate I can't really figure out what it means

It means "The service that you've requested does not exist". Which is strange because I didn't have problems with this service last time I've tried it. Did you try to send also "info" instead of "INFO"? Perhaps it has something to to with the language codepage of your phone?

Originally Posted by kuba.g

Is it true there is no *101# - like code to check the account status in Cosmote? I found the only way to check it is by sending "YP" and "LIXI" to 1314 which is free in Greece, but is charged for when in roaming...

USSD codes are used for many services but not for checking prepaid account balance and validity. This is true for all three operators and their MVNOs. Cosmote may charge those texts when roaming (haven't tried it myself) but Wind certainly doesn't charge those texts for some reason.

Originally Posted by kuba.g

Also, where do I find information about extending the validity of the card? Mine is valid until april 2012. How much does one need to recharge to extend this? (I couldn't find this information on their website).

The information is here but unfortunately only in Greek. In short, the validity is 12 months. Every time you recharge, the validity is extended for 12 more months. There isn't any limitation regarding the amount. You can recharge with the cheapest 5€ scratch card. At the Wind stores the minimum you can top-up is 1€, I don't know if Cosmote/Germanos stores do the same or have a minimum of 5€.

[kuba.g]

Originally Posted by Evan

It means "The service that you've requested does not exist". Which is strange because I didn't have problems with this service last time I've tried it. Did you try to send also "info" instead of "INFO"? Perhaps it has something to to with the language codepage of your phone?

Will check this out the next time I'm in Greece!

Thanks for your reply.

[jdoug]

Originally Posted by Evan

A quick suggestion could be the "COSMOTE Internet On The Go me karta" plan .

Is this plan good for iPhone?

I'm looking for a data plan for an iPhone 3GS for 10 days. Voice would be a plus but I don't really need it. I would like to not have to worry about how much data I use.

Since SMS requires special application (I assume we're talking PC) then I guess no SMS support for iPhone?

[dognaldo]

For Cosmote, there is a Germanos store at the Arrivals Level of the airport. Wind doesn't have an airport store but if you plan to be in Athens for 1 week, you can look for shops in the center of Athens.[/QUOTE]



Thanks for your reply.
I will departure to islands on the same day of arrival. I arrive at Athens
airport 13:00 and go to port of Piraeus for embarkation 23:00.

I have two options; buy a COSMOTE sim at Germano store (airport) and request an immediate register or search a Wind store near metro station in Athens center.

In the port of Piraeus is there any WIND store?

In your opinion what is the best alternative; WIND Mobile Broadband karta me or COSMOTE Internet On The Go karta me ?

Thanks,

[Evan]

Originally Posted by OldBawley

Rhodes town. Wind shop. Friendly salesman. Want to buy a prepaid broadband stick and a 30 days start. Sailing the small islands of the Dodecanese, i now it wil be inpossible to find the Airtime Renewal Scratch Cards, so i decide to take two 30 € cards with me, in order to charge up on the way. The salesman explanes that ading a new card only charges the data amount, NOT the days.
he schows it to me on his ( Greek ) monitor. So only activate new scratch card after the other is expired.
Problem no cards availeble on Rhodes, kiosk vendor explains that those cards are not available. Greeks charge with some kiosk electronic thingy. Not possible in a deserted bay on a small island.
Cosmothe and vodaphone : Only charge up in store. No store.

If I understood correctly you wanted to get the Plan #5 of WIND (WIND Mobile Broadband me karta). I suppose that this plan works with *special* data-only SIM Cards and internet-only vouchers/cards.

Alternatively, you could get the Plan #4 (WIND ADSM Non-Stop) that works with *normal* SIM cards and *common* scratch cards or vouchers. By "common" I mean cards/vouchers that you can buy almost everywhere.

Originally Posted by DaveRo

My experience last year is that the scratch cards are becoming obsolete, though some kiosks (periptero) still had some. Look for a 'payzone' sign at newsagents and similar shops. They sell you a recharge for whatever value you like and give you a paper receipt with the 16-digit number. You send the number by SMS when you want to use it - the details are printed on the receipt (in Greek, of course). I've done this with Wind and Cosmote.

Sometimes the credit you get is less than the amount you pay. Maybe it depends where you buy them - commission?

I guess that OldBawley's problem is different. The *special* data-only SIM cards and Plans are annoyingly *special* also when it comes to their recharging procedures. You cannot recharge/extend them with the normal scratch cards or e-vouchers that are available everywhere. You can recharge or extend them (depending on the operator) only with special data-vouchers and/or only on the operators' stores. This applies only to the "Internet on the Computer" Plans, Cosmote #2, Vodafone #4 and Wind #5. All the rest data plans are just addons to the normal voice/data SIM cards.

For example, here is how the Vodafone data-only scratch card looks like:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Greece-Vodafon...item3caef658d3

And here how the Vodafone *common* scratch card looks like:
http://www.vodafone.gr/portal/client...uest_locale=en

Also it's true that you get less credit than the amount you pay, but that's not a commission, it's the recently introduced tax for the prepaid mobile. Since 2010 there is a 12% tax deducted, so if for example you purchase a 10 card, you will get 8.93€ credit.

Originally Posted by dognaldo

I have two options; buy a COSMOTE sim at Germano store (airport) and request an immediate register or search a Wind store near metro station in Athens center.

In the port of Piraeus is there any WIND store?

No need to stop in Athens centre if you are heading to Piraeus. There are many stores of all three operators in Piraeus. Check my signature for direct links to the stores finder pages.

Originally Posted by dognaldo

In your opinion what is the best alternative; WIND Mobile Broadband karta me or COSMOTE Internet On The Go karta me ?

I cannot really say, since it always depends on which one has the best coverage on the location you're going to. You can check the first link on my signature for information and tips.

Regarding the plans you mention, keep in mind that both plans (and the Vodafone KartoInternet) need a special data-only SIM and special internet-only vouchers for recharging. You can read more info on my reply to DaveRo above. So if you're planning to go somewhere remote, you need to recharge/extend your data plan in advance.

Alternatively, for internet on you computer, you could consider the WIND ADSM Non-Stop, which can be used as an addon on *normal* SIMs with *common* scratch cards/vouchers (check above my answer to OldBawley).