[Ginnser]

Hi everyone

Not long in HK, and just have a pay as you go card, vodafone.

I am about to get a contract sim, but am puzzled, in Hong Kong if I recieve a call are mins deducted from my allowance? In the Uk we dont pay to recieve.

Also was thinking of going for CSL powerplan, and porting my vodafone number to CSL, is this an easy process?

many thanks in advance

[mjken2]

I came to hong kong, and was horified to find out I had to pay in order to recieve a call, australia the person who rings pays, but here both parties do.

it is extremely hard to transfer a number to anoother network

[PDLM]

On the contrary - I have ported my number around a couple of times with very little difficulty. A phone call to the customer service and a single faxed form if I remember correctly.

[discobay]

Yes you are charged for receiving calls on mobiles here. However, call diversion is free for a small monthly fee.
Porting a mobile number is known as MNP (Mobile Number Portability) and is both free and popular.

[back2HK]

Originally Posted by mjken2

I came to hong kong, and was horified to find out I had to pay in order to recieve a call, australia the person who rings pays, but here both parties do.

it is extremely hard to transfer a number to anoother network

Horrified?

How many minutes do you get in OZ for say a 100 HKD? and how many mins in HK for the same amount?

Remember you can use the minutes to call out as well...

[funnie]

Hi,
You are right, In HK, you have to pay even for receiving the call.
Regarding porting your number, thats easy. Go to CSL and fill up the required form. It will take 4-5 days to complete the whole process.

[jaykay]

Yeah you pay to receive a call but when you think about how cheap mobile telecoms are in HK I don't think it's a problem!

Porting a number is so easy, I have one of my numbers that has been ported through 5 different providers over the past few years and it's never been a hassle.

[HKChigger]

I didn't know there was such thing as free receiving calls except if it is part of a rate plan anywhere in the world!

Now that you mention it I do think I heard one of my customers when I worked for a US mobile phone company mention lack of paying to receive calls in Europe.

Mexico really has it stuck to them! They get charged LD when a LD calls from another country comes IN!

[HKBostonian]

Yeah its a real shame that we live in one of only five markets in the world where both the calling and recieving party are billed for SMS/voice traffic....the only others are the US, Canada, China and Singapore. At least the rates are cheap. Porting should also be pretty simple, you can even see how many people do it per month on OFTA's webpage if you are interested.

[HKChigger]

Yeah its a real shame that we live in one of only five markets in the world where both the calling and recieving party are billed for SMS/voice traffic

Uhhh I don't think anyone in HK gets billed to receive SMS. I know for a fact in Canada they don't bill to receive SMS. I know the US does. Not sure about Singapore and China.

I am pretty sure only parts of Europe and maybe a few other random places don't charge for inbound calls.