In article <0mv*QS1Tr@news.chiark.greenend.org.uk>, Theo Markettos
<theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> writes
>The Drone <wsne@zzmail.org.uk> wrote:
>> In article <fbjhbg$pcl$1@reader1.panix.com>, Mike S.
>> <retsuhcs@xinap.moc> writes
>>
>> >The SIM card itself (never detached, still in carrier) bears no expiration
>> >date. Is it still good?
>>
>> Almost certainly not :-(
>>
>> If you do something like make a call or top up with a payment, the card
>> remains usable for a period of (I think) six months. At that point the
>> number is barred and lost - together with any unused credit. The period
>> may be one year but either way it's certainly less than two years.
>
>But if it's still in the carrier the OP has never used their SIM. So it
>might be OK... I resurrected some two year old Virgin SIMs this way and they
>were fine. Don't know with Vodafone, but I wouldn't be surprised if small
>shops kept stock for that long. AFAIK the Vodafone package doesn't have a
>number on it, it's only allocated when you register the SIM, so there's no
>need to worry about them recycling your number.

I did wonder ... so the thing to do is to give them the SIM, with the
instructions on how to register it, and try. If it works, great, if not,
you'll have to buy another SIM but you've lost nothing.

--
Peter