buy prepaid mobile phone in New Delhi

Martina

Hello,
I know there have been several threads about mobile phones, but to be honest I don´t have too much technical knowledge and I just want to buy some cheap mobile phone in New Delhi to have a number where people can reach me. After 4 months I want to sell the mobile (where? to whom? no idea...) and that´s it.

Does somebody have an idea where around Connaught Place I will find something that works without problems?

Thanks a lot!

Martina

timmy

I don't think you'll have any problem. Every second shop in India is a mobile phone shop, it seems.

Alternatively you could buy a second hand GSM phone in Germany to take with you and just buy a prepaid SIM when you get there. You just have to make sure it's "unlocked" which means you can use any any company's SIM card in it.

__________________
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soulstation

Go to Nokia Priority Dealer so that u get original phones. I recommend Nokia bcoz out of three mobile phones in my family 2 are Nokia and 1 is Sony Ericsson. I would recommend Nokia as they are more userfriendly and the battery is gud. Go for original phone so that if there is any prob, it gets covered in the warranty. In CP lot of shops sell mobile phone, but do insist on a warranty card. Prices start from Rs3000/- onwards.

* Beecham's Press M-6, Connaught Place, Opp. Super Bazar, New Delhi
* Narendra Stores G-47, Connaught Place 011-23322439/23351458

You can see it through this forum or to any shop.

xbhp.com

hi
u can also buy a new connection and a mobile phone , both for 3000 indian bucks. reliance has this offer for their pre-paid mobile service in which u get a new pre-paid connection and the worlds smallest cbma mobile phone..

or..u can go in for a second hand mobile phone from a good dealer and buy a pre-paid connection

Martina

hi to all,
thanks for your information!
am sure to get india´s best mobile phone right away! )

now my only concern is if anyone will call me the long way from germany!
well, i´ll make new friends otherwise!

enjoy your day!

bye
martina

Martina

Hello!
Thanks again for the information I got!
Now I have been in India for quite a time and I want to share my experience on prepaid mobile phones to others...
It was not as easy as I thought, but then that's India, isn't it? :-)

I got a phone with warranty card right away, that was not the problem. But I wasn't prepared to the conditions:
SIM cards are quite cheap, about 150-200 Rupees. But you should know that if you are TRAVELLING around India that you can only recharge your card (for most of the providers) in the area where you bought it!
For example, I had a Delhi SIM card and I went to Agra and could NOT recharge it, so I had to buy a new card, tell all my friends my new number....
But even if you have a provider (like Airtel) that recharges cards in other states, you will have to pay 2-5 Rupees per minute for incoming calls and also the costs for your outgoing calls will rise with the same amount per minute.
That means you won't be able to be called as soon as your amount is gone...
Maybe that's normal in other countries, too, but knowing only the German conditions it was quite extraordinary for me, because "home" you never think where you are, you just get incoming calls for free, recharge your card whereever you like... But, well, let's be fair: Germany is a LITLLE smaller than India!

Okay, so if you travel a lot and want to keep the same phone number all the time, reload for a high sum from the beginning to cover all the costs you might have for incoming calls, too!

Costs for outgoing calls to Europe were - according to my experience - about 17 Rupees a minute and 3 Rupees for SMS (being in the town of purchase of your SIM card...).

Network coverage is another thing to carefully think about!
Most providers have good network in all of the big cities, but it may occur that in some towns you can GET calls but not MAKE (especially international) any.
I had problems in Rajasthan, for example.
As to my experience and what people told me, Airtel has one of the largest and most reliable networks and you will be able to call abroad from all over India. (except on many trains, of course, due to absence of any network)


Recharge cards can often be bought for the following costs:
About 335 Rs, valid for 30 days, pure phone amount 150 Rs
About 650 Rs, valid for 45 days, pure phone amount 360 Rs
About 1225 Rs, valid for 90 days, pure phone amount 950 Rs
About 3300 Rs, valid for 365 days, pure phone amount 2700 Rs
(varies a little according to provider)

Another advice: buy phone cards for 200 Rs (phone amount about 180 Rs, valid 4 months) in your post office - or ask there, they'll send you to the right shop. You will have a secret number and can use the card to call abroad from any fixed network phone, for example your hotel phone. They won't let you use them in ISD shops, of course.
To Germany this option is much cheaper than phoning from your mobile (about half the price) or phoning from ISD boxes (often more than 20 or 30 Rs).

So, that will help you, I hope, to avoid the mistakes I made! :-)

Have a nice time phoning (and travelling) in India!

Bye
Martina

lakittee

Hi Martina --

what was the best option/network/company for Rajasthan? We don't necessarily need to call abroad much, just to re-confirm hotels and keep in touch if the four of us split up....

Can the prepaid phone cards be purchased anywhere else besides the post office? what about at the train station?

Thanks for the info!

Martina

hi lakittee,
i think airtel would be the best for rajasthan, because i had something else (don' t remember, sorry), and it didn't work and people told me that airtel was best for all over india.

prepaid cards for mobile phones can be bought in many small shops everywhere, kiosks, airports, etc.
SIM cards you might only get in provider shops, but you will find those in every town.

as far as prepaid cards for normal phones are concerned, i was told i would get it in the post office who sent me to some phone company, but i forgot the name (maybe BSNL?). i do not know where else you can buy them.

have a nice trip!
martina

sggal

In major cities,you can get the prepaid cards(BSNL/MTNL ) for normal phones at most of the shops including medical shops.But in most smaller towns these are usually available only in the main post/telegraph office or else the main office of BSNL(the telephone company).

deepsesame