Mobile phone coverage India-wide

davyd

Hello to all roamers in India
for foreign tourists only two operators are available, I don't know RIM, Tata Indicom and BSNL are they selling sim cards or they are not. So choice is narrowed to Hutch and Airtel. Before I used to buy Airtel sim cards, but had a lot of problems withj overcharging for roaming - Airtel charged me 49 Rs for each state I crossed and was not ready to return money. Customer care service of Airtel was pretty useless.
So this year I decided to buy Hutch. Everything was fine, roaming with outgoing calls in Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. In Gujarat where I came Hutch sim card has died probably due to low balance, but I have plans for its revival. In Gujarat I did not see rewtailers who could recharge my Delhi Hutch number and there is a law prohibiting selling local sim cards of Hutch or Airtel to foreigners. In Diu situation was a little bit better because local retailers are ready to sell sim cards giving to companies local references. I was persuaded by one retailer to buy Airtel number and now I pity this decision - first retailer said that 92 Rs will be automatically added to my account. It was not added and requests with Customer Care service fell in abyss - they simply did not take my calls or interrupted. What was worse - I put 660Rs on account and planned to talk with my family - I still cannot dial landline numbers back in my country (only mobile numbers) that I can dial freely from any STD/ISD booth. Automatic voice informs me that 'this number does not exist'. This problem still persists and I would not recommend to anyone to become a new Airtel customer. They are cheaters.

ultraswamy

THis had happened to me once when i was on roaming...
i was on on Airtel and my card expired at the end of 30days.

however on my return i made enquiries and was told by airtel customer care,, that there is a SPECIAL recharge number to be called when recharging out of state. This number varies from state to state.

About Airtel Customer care...its all true, they ar really bad in the home-network, let alone on roaming.

However, i would also say that there is no single network who's Customer care is RELIABLE at all times. Be it airtel /hutch /reliance.

Tata Indicom network is still confined to cities.


Alternate stategies:
Pre-buy a recharge card(s) and go.
If you have someone who can front some cash for you in your homenetwork, call them up and ask them to SMS you the recharg-code.

smohnot

http://www.qbrating.com/indiatrip/
is my itinerary... very packed going from Delhi to Rajasthan to Kerala to Goa to Mumbai... what network and card do you recommend?

cloudchaser

I used Airtel during my trip to India in Oct-Nov.

I covered these areas and the connection was fine -

Mumbai, Bhuj (right up to the Kutch border), Tamil Nadu (Madurai), Kerala (Kumarakom, Periyar, Kochi), Rajasthan (Jaipur, Bharatpur), UP (Agra), Uttaranchal (Nainital, Corbett), Delhi.

Not sure if I have been charged while moving between states as I was using my brothers spare sim card and I don't have the bill.

Hope that helps.

shantanudutta

Best to buy an MTNL Trump prepaid card in Delhi which is easily available which will work in all these places. Also the cheapest in terms of cost. Airtel comes next.

smohnot

Thank you for your help - one more question - i have a tmobile Sony Ericcson T610 phone that I'm not currently using. Would it be easy to get this unlocked on my 1st day in India? Where would I go to get it done - I've searched on this forum for the answer and haven't found it.

hit

i walked into an airtel office to inquire about rates. when i told him what phone i had, the employee directed me to a street where it can be done easily. that was in chennai, but i imagine that a similar area exists in all cities.

good luck,

-hit

bruniskina

hi everyone,

i just unlocked my nokia 3390 so that i can set it up with an indian network when i get there. can anyone recommend a place in delhi where i can get a sim card set up shortly after i arrive?

is this likely to be a bureaucratic nightmare, or a walk in the park?

thanks in advance.

b.

nirola

just go for CELL ONE (Bsnl mobile service) its very good for Himachal or otherwise
my brother is studying in shimla he say " u get signal even in the remotest part of the state , (only with Bsnl mobile )

so bsnl mobile recomend not only for converage advantage but also its very cheap in terms of cost

davyd

Hello

After the blasts in Delhi I think authorities and telecoms became very wary, but still Delhi is a good place to buy sim card. You need photocopies of your passport pages with your foto and visa, plus passport sized foto. Usually sim cards cost around 99 Rs, it's worth to ask for promotional rates (sometimes sim cards are given free). Where to buy? Just about everywhere, depends where are you going to stay.

davyd

Hello to roamers

Above I complained about Airtel work and was going to switch back to Hutch. When I arrived to Delhi i realized it was not easy - retailer who sold me sim card was not able to revive my Hutch number, and I was told to visit one of their main service centres, because it was Hutch mistake. I was too lazy to go, and overall it was not my mistake why sim card stopped to work though validity was up to Feb 2006. All people said maybe I did not submit my documents but that was the first thing I did on purchase and my retailer was also surprised.
So I was left with Airtel card and surprise - they removed obstacles which impeded me from making outgoing calls to my country. Now I crisscrossed almost all country and can say with Airtel you can make calls just about everywhere.

bruniskina

thanks everyone for your advice. it sounds like i'll have to check this stuff out when i'm in delhi. airtel and BSNL both sound good...

b.

mountaintrekker

nay !

BSNL is best...

jst rtrnd frm kumoun..
I've AIRTEL delhi connection, it helpd me upto HALDWANI..
no signals in Almora, Kausani, Ranikhet, Bageshwar, Baijnath, chokodi & mukteshwar.....

was disappointed to see this,
but BSNL was everywhere

so SAY NO to AIRTEL
YES to BSNL
while in roaming in remote parts of INDIA

mountaintrekker

hi,,,

i've been to many remote places in Himalayas. I've AIRTEL connection, but almost in every trip, this service disappointed me..whereas BSNL is good in these parts as well as in rural India..

for eg..
NO AIRTEL
Himachal Pradesh : ladot(chanshal valley)...
Uttaranchal : Almora, Kausani, Ranikhet, Bageshwar, Baijnath, chokodi & mukteshwar.....
Arunchal Pradesh : Tawang, Bomdilla...

even the places like western UP(which is very near to the National capital region) AIRTEL fails at lot many places'

whereas i found BSNL in all these places

shere

Just backs up my view that BSNL has the best network in terms of coverage.

Airtel and the other private undertakings are OK if you are close to a city but useless in rural areas.

BSNL has increased capacity across India so you do not get the network busy status that often anymore.