Still no service in French Polynesia

plan · ‎28-05-2022

Has anyone managed to get service in French Polynesia?

In 2018 EE acknowledged on the French Polynesia page that there was no service, but that has since been removed. https://ee.co.uk/help/help-new/roaming-costs/countries/french-polynesia#

A post from 2020 also confirmed there was still no service here.

We have been here for two months, and have visited the Marquesas and the Tuamotus. The only service provider is Vini, and connecting to their network allows for emergency calls only (not even text messages).

It's all very well suggesting you use a local sim card, but I have several accounts which rely on me being able to receive text messages sent to my EE number.

If anyone has got service in FP, which network were you connected to?

XRaySpeX · ‎28-05-2022

Are you on contract or PAYG? Did you use that SIM for making calls or texts in UK before you left to go abroad?

If you are on contract, did you activate roaming on your EE a/c before you left UK by texting ROAMING to 150? Having a roaming add-on doesn't of itself activate roaming on your a/c.

Often just rebooting the phone is the simple remedy. Also try selecting a network manually rather than auto. Otherwise try logging into your MyEE account online & go to Menu > Account Settings > Parental and Data Controls > Roaming Abroad and also Call Abroad and Premium Rate. They will show as ticked if roaming and calling abroad is activated. If they are not ticked, can you activate these settings?

If you can't enable the Roaming Abroad and the Call Abroad & Premium Rate settings of your online MyEE, you will need to call CS. Try calling CS on the Freephone no. in my sig. over Skype. It should be free.

PAYG is auto enabled for roaming. You won't see any of those settings & don't need to change anything. If outside EU, do you have enough credit for making calls & texts from abroad?

If you think I helped please feel free to hit the "Thumbs Up" button below.

To phone EE CS: Dial Freephone +44 800 079 8586 - Option 1 for Mobile Phone & Mobile Broadband or Option 2 for Home Broadband & Home Phone

ISPs: 1999: Freeserve 48K Dial-Up > 2005: Wanadoo 1 Meg BB > 2007: Orange 2 Meg BB > 2008: Orange 8 Meg LLU > 2010: Orange 16 Meg LLU > 2011: Orange 20 Meg WBC > 2014: EE 20 Meg WBC > 2020: EE 40 Meg FTTC > 2022:EE 80 Meg FTTC SoGEA > 2025 EE 150 Meg FTTP

plan · ‎28-05-2022

Hi XRaySpeX,

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

I'm on contract, and was set up for roaming before we came here. Roaming is still active in the settings.

We're sailing around the world, and have been to over 55 countries, so I'm pretty clued up about this. I haven't had this issue for a while (Cuba was the last place EE didn't work from memory).

Have tried rebooting and even resetting the phone to factory defaults.

If I select the network manually, Vini is the only option here.

I'm convinced that the issue is EE still doesn't have a roaming agreement with Vini, which is why I'm looking for someone with an EE contract that has been able to make calls while in FP.