Forum Discussion
Smarty sim not working in Australia
Very disappointed that my Smarty Sim is not working in Australia. Didn’t realise, before travelling, it would be a problem and surprised when I got to Australia that I could only get an SOS mobile connection. My wife’s phone working fine on giffgaff and connecting to a local network. Then read all the related posts about problems people have had with Smarty in Australia. I have bought an Optus esim for data and calls/text (local and international) but still no way to access my calls to/from my usual uk number. If I had known in advance I would have forwarded calls to my uk number onto my wife’s phone before travelling but too late now.
Hope Smarty sorts this out soon or I am off to another network.
6 Replies
Apple iOS Upgrade to 26.1 did the trick !
Arrived in AUS last month and have been frustrated by SOS instead of reception bars on my iPhone since. Finally found time to speak to Smarty on a chat yesterday and they blamed Apple which didn't make sense to me at the time.
My own AI assisted research tells me ...
This issue is not exclusive to Smarty, but Smarty (and Three UK) users seem to be reporting it in higher numbers than users of other UK networks. The root cause is an Australian government-mandated blockade by Australian networks, not a failure of the Smarty SIM/eSIM itself.
The Core Issue: "Triple Zero" Blocking
As of late 2024, Australia has shut down its 3G networks. To prevent people from having phones that look like they have signal but cannot actually dial 000 (Emergency Services), the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) introduced a rule requiring networks to actively block any phone that is not correctly configured to make emergency calls over 4G (VoLTE) on their specific network. (NB: people have sadly died due to this 000 issue in AUS so it's not just red tape for the sake of it)
The Impact: If your phone/SIM combination does not send the correct "VoLTE Emergency" handshake to the Australian network immediately upon arrival, the local network will block your device completely. You will see "SOS Only" or "No Service."
You can check if your mobile is blocked on Telstra's network by searching for "3G Network Closure Blocked Devices Checker" (actual link not allowed apparently). My iPhone wasn't flagged, yet I still had SOS, no sadly not 100% effective.
My iPhone 12 mini has, until yesterday, been stuck on iOS 17 even with auto-updates selected. When I went in to check what version it was yesterday I was offered, for the first time, the opportunity to install iOS 26.1, which I took. My Smarty eSIM now works in AUS, no issues. So it seems Smarty's advice that Apple needed to do something was correct, though they could have added the need to check for any iOS updates when in AUS.
I should mention that I have both a UK Apple ID and an AUS Apple ID. When in AUS I use the latter, which is maybe why I was suddenly able to jump from iOS 17 to 26.1.
Anyway, I hope this helps my fellow Smarty users while they enjoy the lucky country!
That is interesting - actually great - news. I was in Australia at the beginning of the year and, like you, couldn't use my Smarty sim, which was infuriating as so many UK companies now insist on 2FA and most only offer the mobile phone text option, so I was unable to access bank accounts etc. while away I posted on several threads on the subject on the Smarty forum (nobody seems to manage threads, so similar issues do not get merged) but got no useful info.
My wife has the same phone (iPhone 12) as me. Her PAYG O2 sim worked fine in Australia. What I should have done, but regrettably didn't, was put her sim in my phone to verify it wasn't purely a phone issue. Smarty claim that it's an iPhone issue, but if it is/was an iPhone-related issue, it seems to be an issue that mainly affects iPhone users with a Smarty sim!
I'm returning to Australia for a couple of months early next year, and cannot afford to have 2FA problems again, so was, just a minute ago checking out Lebara sims, when I thought I'd do one last trawl to see if there was any updated information on the Smarty problem, and came across your post.
I've now followed that up and Smarty has just confirmed, in response to my direct question, that the issue is resolved, and Apple themselves (but only on their Australian site) have said, in the release notes for iOS26.2, that it ... "addresses a mobile network issue for iPhone 12 models when establishing a connection to emergency services in Australia"
Hopefully that is the end of the saga!
I've spent hours over the last few days trying to get my Smarty service to work is Australia on my iPhone, and a variety of other phones. Unfortunately, as many smarty community forum posts have now revealed to me, 90% of phones do not have the correct VoLTE IMS profile to support VoLTE for Smarty in Australia, resulting in an "SOS" only mode.
I so wish I had known about this issue prior to travelling to Australia. I stupidly assumed it would work having been here just 12 months ago, but of course Australia switched off its 3G networks during that time and enforced non-registration for phones that cannot successfully establish a VoLTE connection.
Despite spending an hour on the chat with Smarty support, there was no mention of this well known issue. This is very frustrating and poor customer service from Smarty for those of us travelling to Australia. I will be moving to another carrier as soon as I'm back in the UK, as I'm really disappointed with this shambolic experience and the fact the problem is clearly identified in the forums but tech support at Smarty know nothing about it and wasted a whole load of my time troubleshooting a well known issue.
Smarty need properly acknowledge this issue and provide an updated carrier IMS profile to Apple and other big phone brands ASAP, to get this sorted. The fix is easy and would save a lot of grief for customers travelling to Oz.The Smarty sim won’t work in Australia
Other people have had issues with sim.
I feel your pain. I have repeatedly asked Smarty to put a warning or remove the implicit advertising that roaming is available in Australia. They indicated to me that it is not false advertising and that they have users in Australia. If this was the case I asked them what are we all doing wrong (no response). I am switching to your wife’s provider as a few people have confirmed they work. It is all to do with Volte protocols. It appeared that people with Data roaming contracts were ok (and not on credit). However Giffgaff appear to only offer the same option. Appreciate you posting so that this time I can switch. Two of my financial institutions only offer 2FA SMS and I am sick of people suggesting ESims. I know Aussie SIM cards work fine in my iPhones (two phones) but 2FA requires those SMS codes. My complaints were registered over 10 months ago. Poor form guys. The merger has not made any difference it seems. We are only asking for a warning message to be added to the Smarty site or the removal of Australia from their list of countries you can roam in!!!!
Am in Australia and couldn’t understand why my add on wasn’t working. Now I do. Due to be travelling in some remote areas and I’m now off in search of an Aussie sim as I can’t be without the ability to make a phone call. Also very disappointed that Smarty doesn’t flag this issue up. It’s very poor service from them. I shall be reviewing my sim provider on my return to the UK.
