Is Vodafone UA serious about these roaming rates?

[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.