How long do prepaid sim cards last

Keepgo is a leading developer of global connectivity solutions for IoT, M2M, and broadband devices. Before we answer this question, it is important to distinguish between the three different types of validity : The validity of a physical local SIM card i.

The validity of a physical local SIM card A local SIM card is a key that your mobile phone needs in order to connect you to the mobile network. The validity of a telephone number In order to start using a local SIM card, you need to activate it first. There are two major reasons why connectivity providers do this: First of all, there is only a limited amount of phone numbers available.

Connectivity providers rent telephone numbers from the local government, which they can then issue to their customers. It costs money and it would be too expensive to connect phone numbers to local SIM cards indefinitely. Most telecom providers will block your local SIM card after 6 or 12 months of inactivity to make the telephone number available for use again by a new customer.

Often times connectivity providers use a cooling-off period of a few months to one year so that a new customer receives no messages from the previous "owner" of the phone number. However, that is not legally required. An active local SIM card is registered in different systems.

There is a lot more happening in the background and that costs your connectivity provider quite a bit of database capacity. The numbers are not very shocking if we consider the recorded data of a single local SIM card. That way, telecoms need less capacity and save costs The validity of prepaid credit Finally, you have the validity of the data bundle or call credit.

Wrapping up In summary, there are 3 types of validity that we need to distinguish: The validity of a physical local SIM card lets providers keep their databases clean as they limit the number of outdated local SIM cards in the market. The validity of phone numbers: There are a limited number of phone numbers available, so they need to be assigned only to active users. The legal terms relating to this policy can be found in clause 5.

We cannot guarantee under any circumstances that you shall be able to continue to use your original number and as such will send you out a new Asda Mobile SIM card that will contain a new number. Top-ups will not be refunded to disconnected accounts. If this happens, unused credit will be removed from your account and your phone number will also be deleted from the system.

This includes making a chargeable phone call, sending a chargeable text message or using mobile data. From clause 6. You will lose Your mobile phone number and any Credit on Your Account at the time of such disconnection will be forfeited. This will allow you to keep the credit on your account for longer. There are several ways to keep your giffgaff SIM card active such as making a phone call, sending a text message, accessing the internet or topping up your phone.

From clauses Your SIM Card will be disconnected unless, at least once every six months, your Account is used to: a make at least one call, SMS or MMS to another number not including calls to emergency services or Member Services ; b make at least one connection to the Internet; c make at least one airtime credit or Bundle purchase. For more information, see our full review of giffgaff. From clause 7. If you do not carry out any chargeable activity at least once in any 6 month period your Mobile Phone will be disconnected and you will lose any remaining credits balance on your Account.

If you wish to be re-connected after this time you will be given a new Mobile Phone number. Customers buying an O2 Big Bundle will see their bundle allowances expiring after one month. The six month inactivity policy only applies for regular Pay As You Go credit e. This is stated in clause 5. If your Mobile Phone is disconnected and you would like to reconnect it, you must call Customer Care. According to clause 9. According to clauses 3. Please refer to clause 3.

To keep your Pay as you go number active, you need to use it for at least one chargeable activity — like sending a text or making a call — every days. We can suspend, restrict including, without limitation, prevent you from receiving incoming or making or sending outgoing calls and texts or stop providing all or part of the services if … ii you do not use the service for consecutive days i. If after 45 days from the first notification you fail to do one of the above, we will send you a final notification via SMS for you to use the services.

If the services remain unused after 45 days from the final notification, we will disconnect your mobile equipment and you will lose any credit held on your account. Typically, the vast majority of VOXI customers will have a one-month plan where unused allowances expire with the plan. This is stated in section 5 b and 5 c of the VOXI terms and conditions :. We may suspend our services or end the Agreement if … ii. Using the service means purchasing a Plan, topping up or making any chargeable outbound activity; ….

If we suspend the mobile services because you have chosen not to use them as defined in 5b ii above for consecutive days we will send you a text notifying you that you should purchase a Plan or top up your account or make a chargeable outbound call but not calls to , send a chargeable text or use your data within the next 90 days. If you then fail to do so within 90 days from the date of the text because you have not kept to this Agreement or not used the services for consecutive days, we will disconnect your mobile services and you will lose any credit held on your account.

On some smaller networks, your SIM card could be cancelled after as little as 84 days of inactivity. Some of the smaller mobile networks will also expire your credit 90 days after the date of the relevant top-up. Telstra Plus. Turn on suggestions. Auto-suggest helps you quickly narrow down your search results by suggesting possible matches as you type. Showing results for. Search instead for. Did you mean:. This thread is now archived and closed to new comments. Since the seller is rarely able to prove it too, this remains a matter of trust.

This even more, if you want to sell your used SIM card online, especially if it has been registered in that country on your name. In many countries personal registration is mandatory. You will never know where the SIM in your name ends up and for what activities it will be used. On the other hand, there are absolutely no objections to resell an unregistered SIM or a SIM with a fake online registration.

Explore Wikis Community Central. Register Don't have an account? Validity of SIM cards. Edit source History Talk 0. Categories Manual Add category. Cancel Save. Fan Feed 1 Spain 2 Italy 3 Germany. Universal Conquest Wiki.