Vodafone India - iMessage and Facetime not activating

raksrules

raksrules

Level N
My wife's iPhone X is using Vodafone India. She recently shifted from Postpaid to Prepaid. She wasn't using the SIM when it was on Postpaid since she was In USA but now with she being In India, the first thing we did was convert to prepaid.
I am not completely sure about the plan but she told me its something like 500 rupees for 3 months with 1GB per day data and unlimited calls and text.
Honestly I have no clue about current plans in India as haven't used any since last 3.5 years so I have to get more details from her about the plan.

Now her phone is stuck on "Waiting for Activation" and it never activates. Does anyone know what is missing or what is to be done?
 
From my recent bill I learnt that, iMessage or Apple sends a text to some international number. I was charged 5 bucks and thats how I got to know. Now the plan might not have that capability, reach out to Vodafone and ask them for the solution or to activate international services. I hope that would fix it.
 
raksrules said:
My wife's iPhone X is using Vodafone India. She recently shifted from Postpaid to Prepaid. She wasn't using the SIM when it was on Postpaid since she was In USA but now with she being In India, the first thing we did was convert to prepaid.
I am not completely sure about the plan but she told me its something like 500 rupees for 3 months with 1GB per day data and unlimited calls and text.
Honestly I have no clue about current plans in India as haven't used any since last 3.5 years so I have to get more details from her about the plan.

Now her phone is stuck on "Waiting for Activation" and it never activates. Does anyone know what is missing or what is to be done?
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tell her to recharge with normal amount say 10rs 50rs etc. activation SMS might not be going thru since your wife number is activated by promotional pack with free SMS and some services need paid SMS.

once you recharge with normal amount, say 10rs, SMS will go through, some money will be deducted from main balance and it'll be activated
 
Ok so I told her to do the *141# and tell me balance and all and it says 0.00 as her balance. Her plan says ends sometime in December 2018. Yes it appears it's some promotional tarrif. She can make local calls and texts just fine.
I was aware that facetime and iMessage sends SMS to a UK Number. I told her to send me a test message to my US number and it didn't work so yes it seems international texting is not enabled.


So my question is, if I recharge some 20-50 rupees full talk time or something will she lose her promotional tarrif which she is using? If no then does that recharge I do sit there and not get used since her promo package is used always. And when the package's term expires, Vodafone will start charging from her main balance?
 
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nope. the promo won't expire. tell her to recharge with 10rs and she'll see around 7.5rs in her main balance (after taxes). Then tell her to try again.
 
Thanks everyone for the help. I recharged her phone with 70 Rupees recharge (some 56 rupees talk time) as I had free charge cash back balance of 75 which was going to expire tomorrow.. She was now able to activate both facetime and iMessage.
Thanks again for all the help.

Edit: Vodafone did charge 5 Rupees for the activation text (not sure if they charged separately for both iMessage and Facetime).
 
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vivek.krishnan said:
This is somewhat OT, but I never had this issue on Jio. So is this Vodafone specific?
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This is my guess but Ideally the operators categorize the facetime/imessage activation number as a "Free to Text" kind of number for all so that people can easily activate the services on iPhone but Vodafone doesn't seem to do that.
Like in US, i have a mobile operator and it doesn't have international SMS included but I still am able to easily activate Facetime. Jio probably has that sorted, Vodafone wants to earn money from those activation SMS so they don't.
 
raksrules said:
This is my guess but Ideally the operators categorize the facetime/imessage activation number as a "Free to Text" kind of number for all so that people can easily activate the services on iPhone but Vodafone doesn't seem to do that.
Like in US, i have a mobile operator and it doesn't have international SMS included but I still am able to easily activate Facetime. Jio probably has that sorted, Vodafone wants to earn money from those activation SMS so they don't.
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They certainly would have an activation server driven off a local number else this would have been a wide-spread problem for voda users in India..but it isn't
It probably is not even a SMS thing as all that the activation needs is a data connection

In your case, it could possibly be on account of a IMEI that is registered on a US server

Maybe I am asking a silly question so sorry for asking this but is the phone a US model..and if yes, is it the SIM free version or a carrier tied one?
 
superczar said:
They certainly would have an activation server driven off a local number else this would have been a wide-spread problem for voda users in India..but it isn't
It probably is not even a SMS thing as all that the activation needs is a data connection

In your case, it could possibly be on account of a IMEI that is registered on a US server

Maybe I am asking a silly question so sorry for asking this but is the phone a US model..and if yes, is it the SIM free version or a carrier tied one?
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Yes it is US Model. Probably Verizon. I am not completely sure. But my wife did say that Rs. 5 was deducted from balance when activation happened.
 
All Indian carrier charges 5 rs. for iMessage & Facetime except Jio. You will be charged again if you reset your network settings , reset your iPhone from Phone Settings or Restore the iPhone to latest iOS via iTunes.
One time charges are ok but if you do frequently changes the SIM then workaround is setup your email ID as your Facetime and iMessage instead of your mobile number.
 
You cant remove the mobile number for the iMessage. Can you? Once you activate both services, the SIM number is also listed along with iCloud email as the ways to contact you.
 
raksrules said:
Thanks everyone for the help. I recharged her phone with 70 Rupees recharge (some 56 rupees talk time) as I had free charge cash back balance of 75 which was going to expire tomorrow.. She was now able to activate both facetime and iMessage.
Thanks again for all the help.

Edit: Vodafone did charge 5 Rupees for the activation text (not sure if they charged separately for both iMessage and Facetime).
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hi,
I am facing the same issue. but it yet remains unresolved.
I have vi simcard, and have sufficient balance in my account. All the trouble shooting steps have been done. but still iMessage and FaceTime remain unactivated.
 
shrucos said:
hi,
I am facing the same issue. but it yet remains unresolved.
I have vi simcard, and have sufficient balance in my account. All the trouble shooting steps have been done. but still iMessage and FaceTime remain unactivated.
Click to expand...
I am having the same issue, and I am fed up trying everything out! Apple people are not able to help also! Please let me know if something has worked out for you!
 
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