Seriously?!?
When I got an email earlier from iPnz user Camtab I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Vodafone are restricting the use of MicroSIM’s between devices and not just between iPhone and iPad, but between iPad 1 and iPad 2 meaning you are going to need to get a new MicroSIM card.
Vodafone already restricted the MicroSIM card between iPhone 4 and iPad 1 and according to reports the SIM cards used for the iPad 1 are tied to iPad 1 IMEI numbers, therefore can’t work in the iPad 2. The question for me is, did Vodafone realise by doing this for iPhone 4 to iPad 1 that it would have a knock-on effect for the iPad 2? Possibly not, you see Apple changed the IMEI number range for the iPad 2, but they are a big enough telco company to realise the effects of locking SIM cards to IMEI’s.
I am also struggling to comprehend just why they would do this when there are two other providers who are happy to let you move your SIM card between devices and I am sure some of you (but not all) will be thinking one thing: WTF Vodafone?!?
Or you maybe thinking who cares, just get a new SIM and get over it, well, yes and no. It’s another $20 you have to hand over to get the new SIM, ok it comes loaded with $19.95 of credit but still. More importantly, though, it’s the hassle you have to go through, especially if you didn’t know. You go to fire it up with your iPad 1 SIM and you get a message telling you there is an error. If you ever wanted a reason to move from Vodafone to XT or 2degrees, now you have one.
As usual we have tried contacting them to find out why they have done this, but alas, no one wanted to reply to us (I’m pretty sure the folk at Vodafone don’t like us, we got blocked by them on Twitter after telling them we thought the iPhone4 launch was a joke). If you’re out there, Big Red, feel free to set the record straight.
So has it affected you? Do you even care? Let us know in the comments below.
Priceless. Just priceless. Consistency seems to be vodafones only forte.
(Paul has made 337 comments)
Ok strange. I have a normal sim, used in my vfone vodem. I cut it down to use in my iPad one, & then when I used it in my vodem I use an adapter. All works great!
I have now upgraded to Ipad2 & moved the sim (cut down) to my new iPad 2, again all work great. I have a voda NZ top right of screen & 3G.
(Reneb has made 17 comments)
@ Reneb: This is because it is a normal SIM card not a MicroSIM card. It is the official MicroSIM cards that have been restricted.
@ Reneb:
Not strange. As per Dan’s article, it’s the MicroSIMs that Vodafone have added the restrictions to. What you’re using is a regular SIM that has been chopped down.
(Steve Lawrence has made 648 comments)
Last night I pulled out my iPhone4 microsim (on smart1) and put it in my iPad2 (32gb Wifi+3g) and it worked fine. took less time to find the network than my iPhone and speeds were decent in Wellington
(MisterTuber has made 10 comments)
Well this is interesting. i’m looking to get a couple of MicroSIMs for our iPad2. This may ultimately affect my decision of getting Vodafone’s. In that saying, what is the recommendation for us, for one that is low-casual user, and another casual-high user? Who (XT or 2D, or even Vodafone’s?) best suit our usage?
(chiefie has made 23 comments)
Its not a problem for me atm, but I still care! If this is the game they wana play then Ill do as above, get the MicroSim cut-down tool and use standard sims.
Investing such effort limiting customer flexibility when, as you say there are so may options to move too.
I still don’t understand why, like Rodgers, you can share one data plan across your 2 or 3 devices. It’ll all be about revenue gathering. Plain an simple.
(mitch20 has made 35 comments)
@ MisterTuber: Apparenty MicroSIMs issued after January will be fine… doesn’t say this on the website though.
@ Dan:
But I bought my iPhone 4 on launch day last year. Was 4th in line at Vodafone on Lambton Quay. So my microsim is from July 2010.
(MisterTuber has made 10 comments)
I love reading this bollocks. After 15 years with vodafone I left them for 2degrees. What a difference it has made! They just can’t quit looking like tools. Unfortunately people still keep using them.
(supersubsonicz has made 15 comments)
Steve Biddle has posted these tweets on his Twitter Account – he is a respected & knowledgeable person in the Tech sector.
March 28
@stevebiddle Steve Biddle
@iPhonewzealand You’re wrongly attacking @vodafonenz over this. Apple made Vodafone TAC lock original iPad SIMs. Vodafone have removed this
@stevebiddle Steve Biddle
@iPhonewzealand TAC lock on new micro SIMs meaning they can be used in any device. For once @vodafonenz aren’t wrong, Apple are the cause.
@stevebiddle Steve Biddle
@iPhonewzealand You’re ignoring the actual issue. Vodafone are the only official iPad supplier. Apple forced them to TAC lock SIMs for iPad
So – seemingly APPLE are to blame – hardly surprising………..
(Grant1010 has made 39 comments)
“As usual we have tried contacting them to find out why they have done this, but alas, no one wanted to reply to us (I’m pretty sure the folk at Vodafone don’t like us, we got blocked by them on Twitter after telling them we thought the iPhone4 launch was a joke).”
Maybe it’s because of the strong Anti-Vodafone sentiment on this website & the fact that clearly you think Apple are angels!
Sorry – but Apple are one the most controlling companies in the world, with their products & their marketing, product launches. Look at how they treat their retailers (most recently with the iPad 2 & previously with iPhone4) & leave the customers in the dark over their product launches. It’s happened numerous times & it will continue – just wait for iPhone 5!
I can assure Dan, it was not Vodafone NZ who botched up the iPhone 4 NZ release – it was your beloved Apple that done that (& I have very reliable sources) & frankly I’m sick of the unjustified anger that’s being directed at Vodafone.
(Grant1010 has made 39 comments)
Grant1010 wrote:
Hmmm fair enough. I take back what I say if that is the truth. Still doesn’t make me like vodafone any more!
(supersubsonicz has made 15 comments)
Arghh classic…I love how Grant1010 always chimes in here about you guys being Anti Vodafone (not that you are but often have cause to be haha) and then goes off on a rant. Good pasting of only the tweets he wanted to prove his point. I agree Steve Biddle is highly regarded in the tech world so when he says “They won’t present the facts because they are shit scared of speaking out against Apple. You should realise that by now!” I agree…and note that Grant1010 conveniently left that one out.
I think this is not as much you being Anti Vodafone..but a Vodafone fanboy, enthusiast etc etc not liking his beloved company critiqued or not even, you simply made a post about an area of concern for YOUR readers…shame on you..shame on your informative posting
(camtab has made 480 comments)
@ Grant1010: Right, did you read the entire conversation between us and him, or just decided to post only what he said? If you look at what we said as well, it doesn’t make his reasoning any more compelling.
It starts with Steve telling us we are wrongly attacking Vodafone… here is the full list of Tweets including one at the end from John Reader (Vodafone Employee).
and finally there was this from @johnreader (johnr on Geekzone and Vodafone employee)..
to which we replied:
and we heard nothing back in reply.
Grant1010 wrote:
It’s funny cause we are not anti-Vodafone at all.
Are you saying we shouldn’t have posted this story to advise readers? I haven’t attacked Vodafone in this post. If you actually read it and break down here is what was said:
I don’t understand why they have done this.
MicroSIMs are restricted to devices.
I asked the question… did they know this would happen and why have they done this.
I said they may not have known as Apple changed the IMEI range (giving Vodafone benift of the doubt), however Vodafone should have known better.
I didn’t understand why they would do this when you can get MicroSIMs from other companies that work across all devices.
I said some people may not care, but it is still a hassle.
It does give people a reason to move to another provider
And we contacted them for comment which they didn’t reply to, we can only work with the information we have.
Oh and apparently it is because Apple said so…. oh right, just like they have done for every other “official” provider in the world? I don’t think so.
@Grant1010
You could be well be right, it could indeed be Apple’s policy to restrict MicroSIMs, but as Dan pointed out in the article, nobody from Vodafone responded. We can’t present the facts if we’re not given them, and that’s becoming the typical Vodafone NZ style – adopt the staunch Apple-style “don’t say anything” policy, but without any of their likeability.
But here’s what I don’t get: if this were Apple policy then surely the same restriction would have applied to AT&T in the States, and all other official carriers worldwide. A quick Google search turns up absolutely no results of reporting anything similar in any other country. We’re pretty sure that the likes of Engadget, TUAW or Gizmodo would have reported it had it happened with AT&T. Can you point us towards any such reports that we might have missed?
Even if it were Apple’s insistence, at the end of the day Vodafone owns the relationship with its customers and it’s up to them to manage the way this is carried out. Some free MicroSIMs at point-of-sale would mitigate all of this. Even a free microSIM by calling Vodafone would have done the trick. But no, Vodafone chose to charge $20. Yes, you get $20 of credit, but that’s a forced top-up, and when money has to change hands to rectify an issue such as this it becomes a bad customer experience.
If Vodafone are so against this policy that they ended up telling Apple “where to stick it” (paraphrasing sbiddle there, who in an earlier tweet also said they were petrified of Apple so something doesn’t quite work there) then that would suggest to me that it’s something they feel their customers should be protected from, yet then they go and charge them for the inconvenience. Go figure?
(Steve Lawrence has made 648 comments)
There is a reason I left vodafone after 15 years (the following is not the reason I left them though!).
I was reading geekzone the other day and johnr was adamant that the 3GS could do a hotspot in the same way as the 4 to which a few people tried to correct him. He would not back down, but the issue was the arrogance that came across with his replies. Eventually he admitted he was wrong and apologised but it looked bad for a vodafone employee to act that way.
(supersubsonicz has made 15 comments)
@ Dan
Personally – I think that because of the small size of the NZ Market – customers get a raw a deal from Apple & they “push the boundaries” with their Product Launches & SIM card issues (like in this article) because they can & the repercussions won’t hurt them one bit (or so they think).
Just imagine if the iPhone 4 launch failed so badly (like it did here), in the USA – Apple’s share price would of plummeted & they would of been in deep poo. Does Apple say in the USA (or any other market outside of NZ) to retailers “you can’t advise customers that your selling our device” until the last minute like they do here in NZ? This article refers to that very point:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10715707
“There is a kind of lolly scramble that accompanies launches like this. Stores were allocated certain numbers of iPads depending on Apple’s criteria – however mysterious or logical that might be – then presumably weren’t allowed to say, although people were queuing outside Yoobee (aka MagnumMac) stores. Fair call – that was probably the most predictable place to get a new iPad.
Last year, odd things happened with the iPad 1 launch. People queued outside MagnumMac while Dick Smith and other big stores had stacks by the door and extra staff on, with virtually no takers as they “weren’t allowed to say” they had iPads in stock! No one knew. How crazy is that?”
Personally – I think it’s utter BS – but worst still – Apple Fanboys continue to seemingly condone this behaviour, that most customers would not generally tolerate & Apple get it away with it & continue to do it time & time again (so the cycle continues) & I will guarantee the same thing will happen with the iPhone 5 launch, whenever that is.
I don’t own any Apple products & as a result of their behaviour – RE: iPhone 4 “launch” & iPad & iPad 2 “launches” – I never will, there are perfectly good or better alternatives out there IMHO & Android devices just keep getting better & better, a good example of a side by side comparison can be read here – Samsung Galaxy v10.1 vs iPad 2:
http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=3892&idPhone2=3848
Before anyone says it – it’s not all about the apps IMHO – plus for those who think it is Android’s app Store is getting more competitive by the day.
*Waits for bombardment from Apple Fanboys*
(Grant1010 has made 39 comments)
Grant1010 wrote:
It’s not about being a fanboy. What makes Samsung a better company over Apple?
(supersubsonicz has made 15 comments)