Yesterday, June 25th, the launch in Italy of the new “virtual” operator, Vodafone Ho, which relies on the Vodafone network, was made official.
The company that controls “Ho” is called Vei srl, which stands for Vodafone Enabler Italia. It is 100% owned by Vodafone and offers national 4G coverage,we'll see later for the possible support for 4G Plus.
For now there is only one rate available, €6,99 per month with 30 GB in 4G and unlimited minutes and texts, can be activated by July 31st
The offer was most likely launched in response to that of Iliad
(which offers €5.99 per month 30 GB in 4G, free hotspot, unlimited minutes and texts).
Even the activation mode chosen by Vodafone I have It closely follows that of Iliad ;
in fact it is possible to purchase the sim card directly online through the Official site :
- We can buy the sim online and receive it conveniently at home by mail; once inserted into our smartphone we can activate it with a video call with an operator who will verify our identity.
- We can book the SIM and collect it in one of the points of sale scattered throughout the territory (which can also physically verify our identity) or in the affiliated newsstands (attention we will only be able to collect the SIM, the activation and verification of our identity will always be done online via video call)
- In both ways, it is possible to choose whether to keep our number, therefore transfer it, or activate a new one.
However, already yesterday evening, the mechanism jammed because there was a real boom in requests forcing Vodafone to temporarily "close" online activations, and in fact the following message appeared on their official website:
However, Vodafone Ho specified in a note that in the next few days the flow of requests will be processed and it will be possible to purchase the SIM online again and receive it at home and activate it via video call.
We at cronachedellacampania.it have also purchased a new “Vodafone Ho” sim. This morning we registered on the official website and booked for collection and payment at the chosen point of sale (Pompeii area); a few minutes later we received confirmation via email that the sim was available for collection that same day.
A few hours later we went to the point of sale and after explaining that we were there to collect the SIM card we had booked, we were told that it was not possible because – as reported by the owners – “the system is congested and does not allow you to activate and verify your identity for a new SIM, the only way is to transfer your number".
To our perplexity, it was explained to us that at that moment unfortunately (and presumably also other points of sale) they did not have access to the system that allows the registration and activation of a new customer; in practice we found ourselves in the same situation as those who had to make the video call from home to activate the SIM!!
Furthermore, the owners of the store, who were very helpful, confirmed to us that there was a huge demand for activations for the new operator thanks to the reliability and performance of the Vodafone network on which HO relies, even if the sore point is the system that up until that moment was creating quite a few headaches for customers and retailers; they told us that they had only managed to activate one simcard as a new customer, subsequent activations only through portability... In short, not exactly a happy situation.
Unfortunately, this is the price you pay when systems are not tested properly and are made without taking into account the real needs of the user and especially of the retailers.
However, by continuing with the portability the problem was overcome, we signed digital forms with electronic signature (3 signatures) and in less than 2 minutes we received the welcome email and confirmation of the activation of the SIM card.
Once inserted into the phone, the SIM was immediately active. A text message from Ho welcomed us and provided us with the number for assistance and to configure the phone for browsing. 421113 (be careful if congested it may be unavailable, try again).
You can also download the official app from the respective stores to access the user area where you can check your credit, SMS minutes and available gigabytes and carry out other operations.
It is obviously also possible to access it from the web
If you can't reach the number to configure your phone for navigation, you can manually enter the APN
Name in connection: I-mobile
APN: Web.ho-mobile.it
Username: (empty field)
Password: (empty field)
Please refer to the official site for detailed guide
It should be noted that it is possible to transfer your telephone number even after purchasing the new SIM.
The process is relatively simple and all you need is a smartphone with Android and iOS operating systems. Once you have installed the official app from the respective stores, in fact, an existing customer of ho. You can request number portability by following these simple steps:
- Open the ho. app and go to the settings menu
- Click on the ho. number to which you want to transfer the old telephone number
- Click on “my number”
- Enter the old phone number you want to transfer
- Specify whether it is a Pay-as-you-go or Subscription contract
- Enter the operator you are coming from and the SIM serial number
Once the process is completed and the conditions of the transition are accepted, the user will receive a code via SMS which will serve to conclude the portability request. The transfer of the old number to the new SIM ho. will occur over the next 48 hours.
Below is the download of the respective apps for Android and iOS:
The performance so far is excellent, basically the same as Vodafone so if Vodafone works well in your area Vodafone should also work well Vodafone Ho. In the next few days we will have more precise data regarding 3g/4g navigation
Iliad's arrival has certainly given new life to mobile offers that had increasingly flattened out on practically similar costs; the difference was truly marginal between the various operators who were more concerned with "grabbing" a new customer than adapting their offers to "old customers".
EDITORIAL TEAM
Choose the social channel you want to subscribe to