mobile roaming makes it easier for one to communicate with anybody when going out of the country but i wonder why using Smart (one of mobile service providers in the Philippines) only provides sms and not voice calls when you use its roaming services. I am not quite sure if having a voice call can be arranged prior to activation. I ought to find out.
When i landed in doha and stepped out of Gulf Air, the first thing i wanna do was call my family and inform them that I arrived safely. But I was saving my credit to text a friend waiting for me outside. You see, i left Manila with Php 300 credit on my mobile- I had a brief stopover at Bahrain International Airport so naturally without anything to do, I sent messages to my family and friends that I already landed Bahrain. And I also tried to call a friend who will pick me up at the airport. Now, after that my ignorance left me wondering where did all my credits go? If sending a message would cost 20-25- I could send 12-15 messages, how come my credit says I only have 50 when I only sent 5 sms? *Sigh* I found out later that when you check your balance via sms-it also costs 25! waaaaaaaah… damn it! im so tanga kachicheck ng balance ko.
anyway, i should be talking about QTEL now. Qatar Telecom (QTEL) is the sole provider of all sort of telecommunications in in Qatar (mobile, telephone and internet). I was told that getting a QTEL simcard would cost me around 200 QR (approx Php 2200) and a PATAKA (Qatar ID). So you’re a tourist or on a business visa, you should ask your friends with PATAKA to get you a simcard. That was before. But now, it has become easier, anybody can purchase one using a copy of his/her passport. I think its the government’s regulation to identify the mobile number user for traceability and security reasons. I heard that one guy was arrested by the police when a lady complained that she had been receiving prank calls from that number. That’s why its also hard to offer somebody to use your Pataka or passport to get a QTEL sim- you’ll never know what will happen.
The simcard unlike in the Philippines has an expiration date! Can you believe that? If you buy the simcard, the expiration date depends on the credits pre-loaded to the number, say, if its 100 QR- you will have like 3 months to use it without loading credits or if you load 50- you’ll get a month. You can extend its life by loading and loading credits to your phone. Hala card (equivalent of cell card in the Philippines) offers several denominations of 30,50 and 100 QR credits, I don’t know if there are 500 credits-I haven’t tried and will never probably. QTEL to QTEL will cost you .60QR for the voice call and .40 for the sms while QTEL to an international number like in the Philippines, costs around 2-3QR for voice calls depending whether it is peak of off peak and .60QR for sms. These are all for the pre-paid services. I’m not sure about the post-paid services.
Qtel also offers all sort of promotions. Sometimes, you can buy a simcard for only 50- with a credit of 50 also (best buy), sometimes when you buy a phone, it comes with a simcard and vice versa. Come to think of it, its amazing to say ” I bought a simcard and it has a free phone!’
Lat night, a friend who came to work here 2 days ago requested me to get him a simcard. Currently, simcard costs 150-200 but the one I got was a motorolla c118 unit and a simcard with 50 QR credit for only 165. I thought it was already the best best buy that I got but later I found out that I can get the same package at Sanaya for only a hundred and fifty (150) and a 100 QR credit. grrrrrrr!
anyway…
