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Thread: Why do sims cards stop working after 6 month?

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  1. #1
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    Default Why do sims cards stop working after 6 month?

    Gawd, arrived in Dublin yesterday only to discover that my sim card no longer worked. I had to find somewhere fast, which was a major hassle, to buy a new one and change my advert.

    Why is it that pay-as-you-go sims stop working if you do not use them for 6 months, it is so inconvenient as after all I had paid for that number to be mine.
    Last edited by charlottebabe; 02-08-12 at 22:09.
    0874219265
    www.lady-love.co.uk
    Dublin 19 November
    E80 1/2 hour
    E120 one hour

  2. #2
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    The mobile networks have set up their systems this way.
    One call or text will keep the number active and working all the time.
    As far as I know you can even top up by credit card or laser card now even from another country.

  3. #3
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    smae thing happened me with old sim
    How do you re-activate them?

  4. #4
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    How long is it since it was used last?

    Quote Originally Posted by johnjoehannsg View Post
    smae thing happened me with old sim
    How do you re-activate them?

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    johnjoehannsg (02-08-12)

  6. #5
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    ya its been locked, you see you need to top up!!! or else it thinks the number is not in use anymore!

    im sure if you called up your netowork company they might be able to unlock it for you

  7. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by The D Man View Post
    How long is it since it was used last?
    I don;t know to be honest
    I had a second sim card
    it was in storage for a while, not sure how long, maybe around 6 months are longer
    brought it out of storage, checked it, did not work
    that was another six months ago, it must be well over a year now since i used it last
    I need it again now thou
    Last edited by johnjoehannsg; 02-08-12 at 22:48.

  8. #7
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    If it is more than a year you will not be able to use it again.
    The networks think that you are not using the number and will put the number back into storage
    Then then re-use the number.
    I know this information as I used to work in that industry
    Give the network a call and explain to them that you need the number reactivated. They may do so depending on how persuasive you can be and providing they have not already re-used the number




    Quote Originally Posted by johnjoehannsg View Post
    I don;t know to be honest
    I had a second sim card
    it was in storage for a while, not sure how long, maybe around 6 months are longer
    brought it out of storage, checked it, did not work
    that was another six months ago, it must be well over a year now since i used it last
    I need it again now thou

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    johnjoehannsg (02-08-12)

  10. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by charlottebabe View Post
    ...
    Why is it that pay-as-you-go sims stop working if you do not use them for 6 months,
    ...
    Even if you do not use the card, it costs the operator money to keep it active. If your card is with a virtual operator like Tesco, they will be paying a fee each month to O2 just to maintain a record in the subscriber databases. Even with the real operators, a lot have their networks on what is called vendor finance. That means that they never actually paid for all of the hardware that makes up their network. Instead, they are themselves on pay-as-you go with the equipment manufacturers. That means that they too have to hand over hard cash to another party just to keep the card active.

  11. #9
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    Same thing happen to me.
    Went to the network shop, bought 20 credit
    they gave me a new sim but with old number
    all working ok now

  12. #10
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    Yes, it's a pain. I have several sim cards for several countries and it's hard to keep track of when I last used each. I wish they would come out with a single European sim card. It's the same operators, more or less, in each country anyway.

    “I wish you wouldn’t keep appearing and vanishing so suddenly; you make one quite giddy!”
    “All right,” said the Cat; and this time it vanished quite slowly, beginning with the end of the tail, and ending with the grin, which remained some time after the rest of it had gone.

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