Is Vodafone UA serious about these roaming rates?

[gaztelugatxe]

Originally Posted by lover08

Hi, it's a pleasure to answer to http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/ moderator, your page is very helpful!


VODAFONE UKRAINE
Generally they started to sell Start Package in Ukraine it costs 30 UAH it already has RED S plan inside. From the moment you insert SIM to your mobile so 30 days of RED S starts. And you can add more money and than activate RED M or L

ROAMING
As they don't have pay per minute rates (they have only RED S M L) so you are always inside of some tariff.
Example you are on RED M plan - 30 days starts and it deducted 50 UAH
you go to "Roam like home country" you have two options:
1) to activate "roam like home deal"
2) to use without "roam like home deal"
* you should connect to vodafone only network on the countries you visit ONLY
* in Poland you can connect to any country (there are no Vodafone in Poland as you know)

OPTION ONE - activate roam like home plan
dial *600# and it will activate roam like home plan according to your plan (RED M) and yes it will deduct 150 UAH additional and you will have RED M in countries of the deal (2GB Internet, free facebook viber whatsapp - not include voice on these apps) and
over usage and 50 minutes to Ukraine or within deal countries (15 countries not only to Vodafone numbers)
overuse you pay: 10 UAH / 500 MB (within 30 days cycle from your main rate) and 0.50UAH / minute
fairy usage: speed will go down 6kb/s if you will use more than 5.5GB on RED S 7GB on RED M and 10 RED L (so it means you can max use 5GB by 10 UAH 500 MB) and than speed will be slow (5 UAH 500 MB will still be charged but with speed 6kb/s hardly you can use 500 MB I think)
OPTION TWO: not to activate roam like home deal
In this case you can still enjoy cheaper roaming in 15 countries (vodafone networks only except Poland all networks available)
You will be charged: 30 UAH / DAY on days of usage (calendar day from first usage till 23:59 the same day Ukraine time) and charge internet 500 MB / 10 UAH and minutes 0.50 UAH / minute (till end of the same day)

ROAMING - it should be first time inserted in Ukraine to be roaming active.

I have special MTC cards with possibility open to transfer to Vodafone by USSD command. So you have no monthly fees rate and when you dial USSD command it activates RED S M or L
(some MTC sim card also have this possibility but only new batches)

My cards are MTC active specially prepared for Vodafone (it should appear 3G on these cards at least) and yes I tested USSD command abroad and it worked, they deducted money and sent SMS in Russian that I have successfully purchased Vodafone S etc. Also online portal MTC shows tariff plan Vodafone S

I just tested it in Israel and it is not included in deal countries so I didn't test speed of Internet etc. just tested USSD command it works fine

Kyivstar deal is not so good - 100 MB 35 UAH is quite good price but this is daily fee 35 UAH and if you use more than 100 MB so internet blocks till next day


Alex

Thank you lover08 for the info

So if I have a Vodafone RED S plan I have to pay every month UAH 30,- even if I don´t use it. I cannot find any plan without any monthly cost.

Roam like home plan can be deactivated if not needed.

Can the Vodafone UA SIM be topped up with a European Credit Card? Any other way to top up?

How often should the SIM be topped up? A few years ago it was once every 6 months with MTC Ukraine if I recall correctly.

Thanks

[lover08]

So far I have two people tested it, one in Spain and a second one in Greece and it works fine, Internet and calls.

It should be some plan active red s red m or red l - the minimal fee is 30 Uah on red s plan however if you don't have 30 Uah on prepaid balance it will not block your sim, it will just wait till you topup again, it will not deduct money retroactive than.

Fell like home not auto renew each month. If you activate it so it is active for 30 days and than you can activate it next time, when you'll need it

SIM card is valid for 12 months from last topup at least 5-10 Uah. You can topup on Vodafone.ua website if this will not work so you can use one of numerous global topup websites such as recharge.com worldremit.com etc.
Sometimes they block SIM cards without any notes they tell you because of fraud risk. Sim should be activated in Ukraine and it seams that they check IMEI of phone that activates it, as we activated many cards in one day from the same mobile so these cards were blocked (I am not sure what was a reason but it should be activated in Ukraine not with bulk activation as they have some security check)

[gaztelugatxe]

Originally Posted by lover08

So far I have two people tested it, one in Spain and a second one in Greece and it works fine, Internet and calls.

It should be some plan active red s red m or red l - the minimal fee is 30 Uah on red s plan however if you don't have 30 Uah on prepaid balance it will not block your sim, it will just wait till you topup again, it will not deduct money retroactive than.

Fell like home not auto renew each month. If you activate it so it is active for 30 days and than you can activate it next time, when you'll need it

SIM card is valid for 12 months from last topup at least 5-10 Uah. You can topup on Vodafone.ua website if this will not work so you can use one of numerous global topup websites such as recharge.com worldremit.com etc.
Sometimes they block SIM cards without any notes they tell you because of fraud risk. Sim should be activated in Ukraine and it seams that they check IMEI of phone that activates it, as we activated many cards in one day from the same mobile so these cards were blocked (I am not sure what was a reason but it should be activated in Ukraine not with bulk activation as they have some security check)

Thank you very much indeed

[wolfbln]

I've ordered a SIM through eBay and tested the roaming option for the prepaid data WIKI in the last couple of days. Other users I'm in contact with, did the same.

I have to say I've never seen rates like this before in some EU countries, so I was pretty sceptical about it. Furthermore, the tariff plan is pretty complex. I expected some price reductions because of new EU regulations later this year. But certainly not from an out-of-the-EU SIM like this. After 2 weeks using it on Vodafone Germany I'm convinced that it can be a great option. That's why this offer will be featured on the prepaid data WIKI soon as another way to cut costs, primarily for roaming.

One should first conceed the disadvantages and dangers: The great rates depend on a very volatile exchange rate and a weak UAH currency. Vodafone can raise prices anytime, but this offer is running unchanged since Nov 2015. All traffic is routed through a Ukrainian server. While it gives full 2G and 3G speeds (compared with a local VF plan), latency and thus ping times are higher. So it feels a bit slower, but DL/UL speeds are equal to other Vodafone MVNO prepaid plans.

The price structure is quite complex and not easy to understand. All system messenges are in Ukrainian only, but you can get access to a personal online account that can be switched to English. You should have in mind, that calling an Ukrainian SIM can be very expensive for the caller as out-of-the EU rates are unregulated. So it should be used for outbound calls or data only e.g. as a 2nd SIM in a dual-SIM phone or in a data device.

To the rates, as some eBay vendors are not so honest about this: I'd like to point out that 'lover08' here gave all correct info on this thread above. There is no reason to cheat about the rates. They are really low: For data on a daily base 1.5 GB are sold at €2 or per month 5 GB at €8 or 9.5 GB at €15 in 14 Vodafone networks in Europe. Voice and SMS/MMS rates are ridicously low too: a 1 hour call to anywhere in these 14 countries costs no more than €1, a SMS or MMS sent all over the world 1.7ct. All these prices in € are based on a conversion of 30:1 UAH:EUR, effective in Feb 2016)

This is well below all domestic offers I can get for prepaid e.g. on Vodafone Germany. Only with a lot of effort on 24-month postpaid contracts you can possibly match them. In fact, except in Poland, in all other 12 EU roaming countries it beats even domestic prepaid rates.

So I can confirm now, that the claim 'best European roaming ever' is not a myth as long as you stay on Vodafone networks in these 14 European countries. Please check my extensive article with the complex pricing structure: http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/Euro0

In the 2 weeks of testing I couldn't resolve all issues and some open questions about this SIM plan remain. As some vendors (and maybe other users already) are on this forum here too, you may give us more info about the 'open questions' attached to the Wiki article at the bottom about 2 long-term issues.

Please add your feedback about this SIM here or in the comments section of the WIKI as it's hard to find all the catches.

[Motel75]

Any idea if it can use LTE networks?

[wolfbln]

Originally Posted by Motel75

Any idea if it can use LTE networks?

No. Read the linked article draft. It's only on 2G and 3G at full speed, but with slow latency like many roaming SIM cards.


@Lover08
Thanks for your replies on the Wiki. I will add them before publishing.

[wolfbln]

Finally after using it for two weeks, I've found a major drawback for a wider use of this SIM card outside of the Ukraine.

All three top-up options seem to decline now out-of-the UA issued credit cards for reloads. My first try on 20th of FEB went through, but now a broad selection of Visa and Mastercard credit/debit cards from different European countries (other than the Ukraine) have been refused.

On the internet you can find more comments of users whose cards were not approved for a UA top-up. Probably, my first try that was successful was the exception.

The problem is, without UA-approved payment systems, you need to use 3rd party top-up sites for a reload and they are severely overpriced: ding.com adds 30% and recharge.com around 60% surcharge. There are even sites doubling the price rate. This really spoils all cheap rates which are great originally.

So my question here for users: Is there a way to top up Vodafone Ukraine or MTS/MTC Ukraine SIM cards from abroad for a reasonable surcharge? Otherwise, I have to suspend the SIM from the featured WIKI site as their rates are clearly not obtainable from outside of the Ukraine.

[peterdoo]

www.ipay.ua sais:

Holders of Visa and MasterCard issued by any world bank can use iPay.ua to:
• pay for services of all Ukrainian mobile providers (МТС, Kievstar etc.);

The commission fee ranges from 0 to 4% of the payment amount.

I cannot judge about the reliability and safety of the site.

[wolfbln]

Originally Posted by peterdoo

www.ipay.ua sais:

Holders of Visa and MasterCard issued by any world bank can use iPay.ua to:
• pay for services of all Ukrainian mobile providers (МТС, Kievstar etc.);

The commission fee ranges from 0 to 4% of the payment amount.

I cannot judge about the reliability and safety of the site.

Thanks Peter.

But I've already tried them. It seems to be blocked by the receiver now. It explicitly states when payment fails, that no payments are allowed from 'my' country. So as if Vodafone UA has implemented a new policy of accepting only UA-issued payment systems. The mysterious aspect of this that my last top-up on 20th of FEB went through and now everything seems to be blocked. I get an error with cards from 3 different European countries, credit or debit. So there is no chance.

I generally don't like these 3rd party top-up sites very much, but surcharges of 30% with ding.com or orange top-up and 60% with recharge.com and sometimes 100% on even more dubious sites will surely spoil the great UA roaming rates.

I'm checking Bitrefill using Bitcoins and Russian Webmoney as an alternative next. So you see, I haven't given up on it yet. But some of the vendors who were lobbying hard for this SIM may have other suggestions too. Any surcharge of up to 10% I still consider reasonable for top-ups, but not 50-100%. As far as I know top-ups to Vodafone UA and MTS/MTC Ukraine are exchangeable as it's basically the same operator.

In the meantime this SIM is not recommended anymore on the WIKI and the links suspended as its (great) rates can't simply be obtained from abroad. I think we should be honest with it and its rates.

[Gnarfy]

Hi!

My credit cards do not work also.
Topup with bitrefill works well, the surcharge is about 6-7%. Any idea how I can buy small amounts of bitcoins without the usual complicated verification
procedure for a reasonable price?

The cheapest recharge service that I found is https://pay724.com. I did not test it, the surcharge is about 16% (+ eventual currency conversion fee of your credit card!) I did not test it until now.