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WalidDubai Author

Level 1

0 points

Facetime "Waiting for Activation Issue" When switching SIM cards

I have an unlocked iPhone 4 from the UK. I first had an Orange France SIM card installed and all went well... Facetime was working fine. However, when I came to Dubai I inserted my local (Etisalat) SIM. The phone was functioning ok, except for Facetime. When I tried to switch it on from Settings, it kept saying "Waiting for Activation".

I am an advanced user. So, all basic things are checked: WiFi, Tried to reboot phone, tried hard reset, even tried Total restore, tried different WiFi network, SMS working, MMS working, 3G working...etc. I even tried the solution on Apple's site ( http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4246).... Still no luck.

Few things to note:

1) I have a friend who has iPhone 4 on the same Etisalat network, and his Facetime works fine. The only difference is that Etisalat was the first SIM he put in.
2) I tried to switch back to my Orange SIM while still in Dubai, and at first, Facetime showed "Waiting for Activation", BUT when I rebooted, it was active and working fine... tried to insert the Etisalat SIM after that... and back to "waiting for activation" issue.
3) Did same above with my AT&T SIM ... and got same result as with Orange France SIM
4) Tried to call 888-facetime and they just referred me to the case referenced above, and the simple answer that "your carrier may not support it"! Thanks!!! I told the guy I know someone on the same network working on Facetime.

I think the problem is that Facetime needs to be re-registered from the Orange # to the Etisalat # and for some reason that is not happening smoothly to the Etisalat #... However, how can I get that done... I cannot even find an email address to send to apple regarding this problem...

If any of the Apple Tech staff reading this please respond!!! THANKS.

iPhone 4, iOS 4

Posted on Jul 8, 2010 2:11 PM

24 replies

arqdolim

Level 1

0 points

Sep 1, 2010 6:34 PM in response to Epito

I'm in Venezuela too. I bought my iPhone 4 in France and started to use it here in Venezuela with Digitel. All worked fine and could activate FaceTime with that Carrier. Then, I change to Movistar, my main Carrier and actual mobile phone number and NOTHING HAPPENS. FaceTime keeps telling me that is "waiting for activating". I keep receiving some sms telling me that a message sent by my iPhone 4 was delivered, but NOTHING HAPPENS. FaceTime never activates.

Sep 19, 2010 9:50 PM in response to Ricky Yu

Hi. I bought 2 iphone 4's that are factory unlocked from Canada. I was actually able to get facetime to be activated in Costa Rica on one of them. I did reset network settings. I made sure the phone number given by the sim card was +506 xxxxxxx and did several sms and other teaks that I found online. The other phone, no luck. Its really strange. Now facetime works on one of them but no the other so I cant try the feature. The only differences between the two phones is one sim is an original GSM sim (ported to 3g) and the other is a new Kolbi sim. Both are cut downs.

Ricky Yu wrote:
I have a canadian version iP4 and, as all of you, face the same issue with FACETIME. I am currently in Costa Rica and it does not activate either.

Sep 24, 2010 9:17 AM in response to José María Pacheco

Hello, did you get it to work (sept 24 2010) My unlocked iphone will recieve calls and voicemail but I cannot call out...does anyone have a solution. (I have a Kolbi 3g sim)
THanks for the help

Oct 13, 2010 4:41 PM in response to José María Pacheco

Hello, did you have any luck with the Iphone using the kolbi sim?
I bought to Iphones on Canada as well one with the old sim works fine, the other one with the kolbi Sim no luck yet

Tonga

Level 1

0 points

Oct 14, 2010 3:27 AM in response to WalidDubai

Same here folks. When I try to activate FaceTime I get: "waiting for activation..."

I'm using T-Mobile in The Netherlands

Ricky Yu

Level 1

0 points

Oct 25, 2010 5:26 PM in response to José María Pacheco

I replaced my "GSM" purple ICE chip with a new GSM chip (it actually is different) and asked to be ported to the "new" 3G network. Facetime got activated and it actually worked for two weeks. And then suddenly it stopped working.

BE VERY CAREFUL when activating, each time it asks for activation it sends SMS to a number in U.K. It cost me $43 in international SMS fees last month!

Good luck everybody.

dedward

Level 1

0 points

Feb 25, 2011 7:18 PM in response to José María Pacheco

I have the exact same problem - factory unlocked canadian i4's - one has hte "old" purple 3g sim, the chopper destroyed my other sim so I got a new one... on hte "kolbi" network.

I had no problem getting facetime working with the old sim, but with the new one, no dice.

(no problems sending international SMS to whatever whatsapp required to activate though)

any answers yet?

Jun 3, 2011 6:10 PM in response to WalidDubai

Hi, same problem in Croatian vodafone. After switching mine and wife's sim cards (both IP4's are from same operater) i lost facetime. I tried everting exept to put again same cards into IP4 which i use for first time activation. After i try this i will post it

TanujW

Level 1

0 points

Jul 2, 2011 7:17 AM in response to VodafoneCrouser

Hey,

Not sure if this will work, but worth a try.

Under Settings>Phone>"My Number"
Check whether you're correct number is entered.,
Also check whether you're Caller Id is ON or not.

As soon as I entered the correct number, I got a request to send a message to activate FaceTime

All The Best.

Facetime "Waiting for Activation Issue" When switching SIM cards