Prepaid mobile phone in India - a starter's guide! (roaming, SIM cards, networks...)

Martina · Dec 6th, 2004, 15:01

Hello!
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

beach · Dec 18th, 2004, 21:39

.....indian brands & links of service providers

www.bsnl.co.in/service/mobile.htm

www.hutch.co.in

www.ideacellular.com

www.airtelworld.com

www.bplmobile.com

www.escotelmobile.com

www.mtnl.net.in

www.ril.com

www.rpgcellular.com

www.spiceindia.com

www.aircel.com

www.essarcellular.com

Nick-H · Dec 18th, 2004, 23:21

If the average British teenage mobile user went to the shop to buy a £5.00 top-up card only to find that they only got £4.50 worth of calls because 50p was 'service charge' --- I hate to think where the card would get stuck

Service charge Bah!

shere · Dec 18th, 2004, 23:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick-H

If the average British teenage mobile user went to the shop to buy a £5.00 top-up card only to find that they only got £4.50 worth of calls because 50p was 'service charge' --- I hate to think where the card would get stuck

Service charge Bah!

If the average Indian teenage mobile user went to a shop to buy a RS300 top up to make a call to Europe and found that it cost them more than RS80 a minute to call Europe, I hate to think where the card would get stuck.

OK they have service charges but call charges are very low and like on Cell One you can always buy a RS 3000 top up and not have any money deducted in service charges.

wizemen2 · Sep 27th, 2006, 12:40

Firstly even with a passport we were unable to purchase the card of our choice,and were limited to only several lesser brands.

Secondly,our sim cards were only good for the state you buy them in.
Thirdly, we keep receiving continual Spam texts, mostly from the card companies.
Over all, the whole sim card thing in India was a a pain it the butt, quite different to say, Indonesia, or Malaysia where it is cheap, simple and uncomplicated.
Wizemen2

nycank · Sep 27th, 2006, 15:38

Use skype

Carry skype in your USB Keychain JumpDrive.

cullepm3 · Aug 26th, 2007, 10:48

I will be in Nagpur for the next 4-6 months and am also having difficulty getting a SIM card. Shopkeepers have asked that I provide proof of address, but when I ask the hotel where I am staying to do this, they aren't willing. All this seems really silly. Does anybody know why a foreigner can't simply walk into a store and buy a prepaid sim card? If I were going to be billed later, I could understand requiring proof of residency, but this is prepaid. What gives? Any suggestions from anybody on how to get this done?

Dr Funkenstein · Aug 26th, 2007, 14:22

Anyone know which is the best provider in Goa? I;m going to be there for 5 months. Hutch have been recommended to me in the past. Anyone know if they're good?

Also, I've got an unlocked phone with a British SIM card in it right now.

I haven't bought an Indian SIM yet as I've been moving between states a lot - from what Martina says above is waiting until I get to Goa to buy my SIM the best idea?

Cheers.

Martina · Aug 27th, 2007, 01:05

hello,
yes, I´d say that the right thing is to buy a SIM card when you stay in a state for a while.
my last info was in 2005 - but I think it´s very unlikely that things have changed since then...

)

bye
martina

sorry,
forgot: Airtel was quite good in Goa, I think.
don´t know for the others.

greet the beaches from me... ENVY!!!

bye

Martina · Aug 27th, 2007, 01:10

hi,
I think I just gave my home address in Germany, and they didn´t care...
they just took a copy from my passport. but it´s easier to bring the copy with you, otherwise you might wait for half an hour till they sent someone to take a copy, and they will disappear with your passport... they will come back for sure (or at least they did all the time with me), but you might think they won´t ...

)

bye
martina

Dr Funkenstein · Aug 27th, 2007, 17:00

I thought that was the case, Martina.

Very helpful, thanks.

himmat01 · Aug 27th, 2007, 18:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by cullepm3

I will be in Nagpur for the next 4-6 months and am also having difficulty getting a SIM card. Shopkeepers have asked that I provide proof of address, but when I ask the hotel where I am staying to do this, they aren't willing. All this seems really silly. Does anybody know why a foreigner can't simply walk into a store and buy a prepaid sim card? If I were going to be billed later, I could understand requiring proof of residency, but this is prepaid. What gives? Any suggestions from anybody on how to get this done?

SIM cards have been misused by terrorist organizations in India. Address and ID proof are thus necessary to obtain a SIM card. It is the service provider's responsibility to verify the details and only then activiate the SIM.

Johanmouton · Sep 2nd, 2007, 01:37

Can I use my GSM phone in india?

samsalami1 · Sep 13th, 2007, 09:04

I have a cell phone with an open line I bought in Asia. I'm planning to buy a sim card when I get to India. I do have a few questions.

If I buy a sim card from down south, in Bangalore, I understand that if I call anywhere in Bangalore it is considered a local call and I don't have to type the area code prefix prior to dialing. What if I took a plane all the way up north to Delhi. Do I have to do anything special to the phone since I bought the sim from Bangalore? If I call any place in Delhi, is it consider a local call? What if I call from Delhi to Bangalore?

How much is the Airtel SIM card going for these days?

capt_mahajan · Sep 13th, 2007, 10:09

From an Indian sim card

1. to call any city landline number: (std code with zero)+number

The std code for eg mumbai is O22
so, for a number 22222222

you will dial 022 22222222 from any city in India

2. to call a mobile phone in the home network or in the city you are in (where the sim card is bought) simply dial the mobile number.

So, in Delhi you will dial any local mobile number direct even though you bought the card elsewhere.

And you will dial 011+Delhi landline number (011 is Delhi code)

3. To call a mobile phone outside home network add a '0' in the beginning.

Costs of sim cards may vary depending on the schemes on offer; it may be a maximum of a few hundred rupees.

Charges vary. You may be charged a roaming charge plus call charges outside your home network. Browse this forum for more information. Basically you are paying extra if you use the phone anywhere out of the home network, and you may be also paying long distance charges.

But, my suggestion would be forget the charges.. it isnt expensive.. and just buy a simcard (from a national provider like Airtel or MTNL or BSNL) where you intend to use it the most. Thats usually cheapest.

Dec 6th, 2004, 15:01	#1
Martina Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Germany Posts: 20	Prepaid mobile phone in India - a starter's guide! (roaming, SIM cards, networks...) Hello! 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

Dec 18th, 2004, 23:21	#3
Nick-H Loud-mouthed, Noisy Bird Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 22,909	If the average British teenage mobile user went to the shop to buy a £5.00 top-up card only to find that they only got £4.50 worth of calls because 50p was 'service charge' --- I hate to think where the card would get stuck Service charge Bah! __________________ . IndiaMike Mod Team (The Grumpy One)

Sep 27th, 2006, 12:40	#5
wizemen2 Dennis & Graeme Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Australia Posts: 41	Sim cards are a hassle in India Firstly even with a passport we were unable to purchase the card of our choice,and were limited to only several lesser brands. Secondly,our sim cards were only good for the state you buy them in. Thirdly, we keep receiving continual Spam texts, mostly from the card companies. Over all, the whole sim card thing in India was a a pain it the butt, quite different to say, Indonesia, or Malaysia where it is cheap, simple and uncomplicated. Wizemen2 Last edited by Nick-H : Sep 27th, 2006 at 17:42. Reason: removed the quoted OP, to make the thread easier to read

Aug 26th, 2007, 10:48	#7
cullepm3 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: nagpur Posts: 3	Difficulty getting SIM card I will be in Nagpur for the next 4-6 months and am also having difficulty getting a SIM card. Shopkeepers have asked that I provide proof of address, but when I ask the hotel where I am staying to do this, they aren't willing. All this seems really silly. Does anybody know why a foreigner can't simply walk into a store and buy a prepaid sim card? If I were going to be billed later, I could understand requiring proof of residency, but this is prepaid. What gives? Any suggestions from anybody on how to get this done?

Aug 26th, 2007, 14:22	#8
Dr Funkenstein Joolay !!! Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Manali, Himachal Pradesh Posts: 854	Anyone know which is the best provider in Goa? I;m going to be there for 5 months. Hutch have been recommended to me in the past. Anyone know if they're good? Also, I've got an unlocked phone with a British SIM card in it right now. I haven't bought an Indian SIM yet as I've been moving between states a lot - from what Martina says above is waiting until I get to Goa to buy my SIM the best idea? Cheers. __________________ Out There Somewhere : My Travel Blog.

Dec 18th, 2004, 21:39	#2
beach Lost in translation Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: India Posts: 2,230	.....indian brands & links of service providers www.bsnl.co.in/service/mobile.htm www.hutch.co.in www.ideacellular.com www.airtelworld.com www.bplmobile.com www.escotelmobile.com www.mtnl.net.in www.ril.com www.rpgcellular.com www.spiceindia.com www.aircel.com www.essarcellular.com

Sep 27th, 2006, 15:38	#6
nycank Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: NYC Posts: 228	Use skype Carry skype in your USB Keychain JumpDrive.

Aug 27th, 2007, 01:05	#9
Martina Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Germany Posts: 20	hello, yes, I´d say that the right thing is to buy a SIM card when you stay in a state for a while. my last info was in 2005 - but I think it´s very unlikely that things have changed since then... ) bye martina sorry, forgot: Airtel was quite good in Goa, I think. don´t know for the others. greet the beaches from me... ENVY!!! bye

Aug 27th, 2007, 01:10	#10
Martina Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Germany Posts: 20	to cullepm3 hi, I think I just gave my home address in Germany, and they didn´t care... they just took a copy from my passport. but it´s easier to bring the copy with you, otherwise you might wait for half an hour till they sent someone to take a copy, and they will disappear with your passport... they will come back for sure (or at least they did all the time with me), but you might think they won´t ... ) bye martina

Aug 27th, 2007, 17:00	#11
Dr Funkenstein Joolay !!! Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Manali, Himachal Pradesh Posts: 854	I thought that was the case, Martina. Very helpful, thanks.

Sep 2nd, 2007, 01:37	#13
Johanmouton Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: South-Africa Posts: 6	Can I use my GSM phone in india?

Sep 13th, 2007, 09:04	#14
samsalami1 Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: HK Posts: 7	I have a cell phone with an open line I bought in Asia. I'm planning to buy a sim card when I get to India. I do have a few questions. If I buy a sim card from down south, in Bangalore, I understand that if I call anywhere in Bangalore it is considered a local call and I don't have to type the area code prefix prior to dialing. What if I took a plane all the way up north to Delhi. Do I have to do anything special to the phone since I bought the sim from Bangalore? If I call any place in Delhi, is it consider a local call? What if I call from Delhi to Bangalore? How much is the Airtel SIM card going for these days?

Sep 13th, 2007, 10:09	#15
capt_mahajan Reproof of life Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: India Posts: 7,711	From an Indian sim card 1. to call any city landline number: (std code with zero)+number The std code for eg mumbai is O22 so, for a number 22222222 you will dial 022 22222222 from any city in India 2. to call a mobile phone in the home network or in the city you are in (where the sim card is bought) simply dial the mobile number. So, in Delhi you will dial any local mobile number direct even though you bought the card elsewhere. And you will dial 011+Delhi landline number (011 is Delhi code) 3. To call a mobile phone outside home network add a '0' in the beginning. Costs of sim cards may vary depending on the schemes on offer; it may be a maximum of a few hundred rupees. Charges vary. You may be charged a roaming charge plus call charges outside your home network. Browse this forum for more information. Basically you are paying extra if you use the phone anywhere out of the home network, and you may be also paying long distance charges. But, my suggestion would be forget the charges.. it isnt expensive.. and just buy a simcard (from a national provider like Airtel or MTNL or BSNL) where you intend to use it the most. Thats usually cheapest. __________________ . The cynic must remember that he is a spy (Epitectus) Indiamike moderating team :- Odd mod out

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