buying a pre-paid SIM card

philip007

Hi folks,

There has been much info on buying pre-paid SIM cards posted on IM and I have the majority of it however I still feel a little confused. Much of the info posted would have been BEFORE the Mumbai attacks, after which the security of buying a SIM card would have become much tighter.

Generally all the info on IM clearly tells a story of just how difficult it is (for non Indians)to buy a pre-paid SIM card. Sometimes the SIM cards has been cut off several days after purchase after you have left and moved on to your next place etc. Difficulties proving your address within India which is not a hotel (clearly impossible for a traveller)- sometimes trying to find documents with you which have your home address (which travellers usually dont have) etc, etc, etc.

I dont mind presenting the appropriate documents when requested but all the stories seem to suggest a different criteria from different sellers.

All a traveller wants is to present the correct documents - pay the required fee and then use the service without problems, but that just doesnt seem to be the case with many travellers.

As I will be travelling around India - Amritsar, Varanasi, Kolkata, Rajasthan, Mumbai, Goa, Cochin, and as I will only want to make the ocassional call to my next hotel and also to send and recieve texts to my home (Australia) my thoughts are as follows.

Just dont bother with all the hassle. Put my existing phone on roaming and take the roaming charges on the chin !!

I would appreciate any valuable commets from people who have been through this particularly AFTER the Mumbai attacks.

Many thanks.

Philip

Kartooman

Hi Philip,

Yes, there are hassles sometimes. About a year ago, my wife was sold a SIM card which was then re-sold, and she had to get a letter from the hotel to prove where she was staying. This was in Karol Bagh, Delhi. Took about 2 days to sort things out.

But, I just came back from India 3 weeks ago and got a SIM card quite easily. Need to show your passport plus 2 photos. They will take a photo with a mobile phone and get it processed, so no problems if you dont have the photos, but its better to take some copies before leaving. It did take some time to get connected, about 30mins. I did it in South Extension, Delhi,

Problem is you pay first them hope for the best.

Cheers

philip007

Hi kartoomman

Thanks for your reply. Where you travelling around India or mainly based in Delhi ? The process seemed fine for you but not previouslt for your wife. The whole process seems "hit and miss" to a degree.

I will take some photos however I just dont want loads of hassle - although this is India - do we expect anything different ?

Where is south extention Delhi ?

Cheers mate.

Philip

DB1st

I am interested in this topic as well as I'll be visiting Delhi, Agra and Varanasi for a good 10 days early in October. I would like the use of my cell phone to call the hotel, etc. My cell phone is from the US and has been unlocked.

Thanks.

Haylo

US cell phones sometimes don't work in either Europe or Asia, because for some bizarre reason, many of them only have the frequencies used within the US. Perhaps the manufacturers assume that nobody ever leaves America... Or that the rest of the world doesn't have cell networks?

Anyway, you'll have to check your particular model to see which bands it can operate on.

South Ex is about two miles South of India Gate, and about a mile East of Sarojini Nagar. Or in terms of Indian directions, turn left at the AIIMS flyover.

If you want to know exactly, I'm sure you can easily find it on google maps of Delhi.

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nycank

Or, maybe the best wireless carrier is a non-GSM one Verizon Wireless is a dominant player in US wireless business. It is a CDMA based. It allows its international traveling customers to carry a GSM compatible phone with roaming in association with Vodafone. Only two carriers - Cingular/ATT and T-mobile are GSM based.

Europe and Asia also have their own issues Try S.Korea and Japan

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kugan551

I forgot to unlock my phone.( but managed to make calls on roaming charge.)

So I thought I would be clever and bought a new Indian mobile phone and used my legitimately bought SIM and guess what.

It did not work.

There is so much confusion : SIM bought in one state not working in another, you don't really know the agent sent your paperwork on time, .........

A friend (far away from me )somehow had no problems. His driver sorted everything for him and he was caling home for 2p a min everyday!

Most irritating. The Indian govt. must do something quickly to sort this out.

Haylo

The Indian government have a lot more important things to worry about than whether or not a foreign tourist can make cheap phone calls.

Yes the registration requirements are annoying, especially when Indian companies fail in their duty to register the paperwork, but they are a security measure which must be endured.

esarkay

I'm visiting Bangalore from the US (Sept 2009) and was able to get a pre-paid SIM card from a vodafone shop on 100 ft Road (it's next to a Citibank ATM, near the restaurants Mugen and Kyra).

I have an old unlocked Nokia 2106, SIM card works fine.

vodafone shop wanted passport and a passport photo. They initially insisted on a permanent address in India, but waived that requirement after I spoke with a manager.

Overall a pretty painless process. I think I paid about 100 rupees and got 75 rupees call time. I can re-charge online, but at 1 rupee per minute, it's already lasting me a while.

It would have cost me $6US just to get roaming ACCESS on my US AT&T phone ... what a joke. vodafone service is great so far and super cheap in comparison.

DB1st

When we arrived at Ghandi Intenational Aiport, the taxi driver (arranged by Delhi B&B) loaned us a SIM card that he loans to his customers. All we had to do was to add money to it (200Rs) and returned the card to him when we leave India. This worked out really well. It worked in Agra and Varanasi as well. We don't know what card vendor it was. We ended up leaving more Rs on the card than when we received it but this was well worth the convenience!

It turned out he was the best driver we had! Curteous, polite, pointed out places as we drove by, never tried to take us shopping, told us what to watch out for and very helpful. His name is Puppa.