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

yosithezet

Just tell your wife's family that there are new cell numbers in B'lore and give her the UPEast number to dial.

pretall

Hi,

I am Viktor from Sweden and I will cross India by bicycle in a couple of weeks (from Bombay to Calcutta) and I carry an old Nokia 3310 with me. I wonder if there is any phone card that I could buy in India which could allow me to cheaply send sms:es and sometimes call to Europe (mostly Estonia). If not, I suppose there are phone cards I call buy and call from phone boots all over the country?

Thanks for any information!
Viktor

Aishah

Mod Note: Hello Viktor and welcome to India Mike! As you can see we have moved your post to this existing thread where you if you have a good read, you should find most of the answers.

Rates for International calls and SMS are very cheap here in India - I suggest you try Airtel for a good wide coverage.

__________________
"Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards."

sandal melody

we're going to be doing goa>karnataka>kerala>back to goa over 5 weeks from next month. After skimming through the pages I guess Airtel would be the ones to go with. Does anyone know if there is an Airtel store in Goa and how easy it would be to get a sim there? Asda sell unlocked mobile phones for £15 each which is a bargain so I'm probably gunna buy a couple (for me and the mrs) and use those!

dalliance

Hi!

I'm going to India tomorrow (urp) and I was thinking of getting a prepaid. I've looked through the thread, and I've a few questions, sorry if its repetitive.

1. Am I able to get an airtel prepaid at the Delhi airport or is it more expensive there, and should get it somewhere else.. like paharganj?

2. Is Delhi considered the same "area" as Agra, and cities in Rajasthan/Jaipur?

3. Do I have to buy a completely new simcard in rajasthan then, to use the cheap value.

4. If I bought a sim card in Delhi, and used it out of area, will my overseas call costs still be the same? (if i pay 6rp per minute to call the US in delhi, will I pay 6rp as well when I'm not in the state?)

Thank you SO much for your help

Aishah

Rajasthan SIM works only for Rajasthan cheaply, then you have roaming charges once out of Rajasthan. The same for Delhi - only works within the Delhi area - cheapest - then once outside Delhi, more expensive. So the thing is to buy your SIM where you will be the longest. I'm not sure but I think overseas calls are the same wherever you ring from. Someone else might help out here. So if you are buying the Sim for overseas calls mainly, then it wouldn't matter where you buy it.

Delhi is not the same area as Agra (this is Uttar Pradesh) or Rajasthan.

AliG1000

Walked into an Airtel store in Jaipur, Rajasthan with:

i) UK Passport
ii) UK Drivers Licence (has my UK address)
iii) passport sized-photo
iv) letter from the hotel stating that I am a guest

Rs 1350 for a Nokia
Rs 740 for a SIM

The phone worked within an hour (they say about 24 hrs)

One week later, the phone is blocked - no in-coming, no out-going.

The reason given at the store was that my signatures didn't match. When the documents reached the Airtel office, someone decided the signatures I had placed (in duplicate) on each document didn't match my passport or licence signatures.

When asked, what could I do, I was told to make a new application. I asked the manager what is the same thing happens. He shrugs his shoulders. Could he phone the Airtel office and say that the application is genuine? No. So I asked if he could sign the new application also, and state that he witnessed me signing them (I do after all look enough like my photo ID that I'm allowed to get on a plane, enter India and then drive around.)

He refuses to do this - goes into a back office to confirm this with his boss (no idea if a call was made) - and so I asked for my Rs 740 back.

He point blank refuses. One week, 3 calls, 3 SMSs for Rs 740 It's round about this time that I make a judgement call on the manager's character.

A quick check with a local said that the Vodafone network here isn't great. Reliance wouldn't accept a non-residential address. I couldn't locate Idea.

I returned to the store, signed the new application in front of 3 staff, including the manager and am waiting for it to get activated. Diwali is just about over so I'll give them 24 hrs before I go postal on the office clerk.

The problem is, both my passport and licences are 7 yrs old. My signature has changed a little and I can't now reproduce precisely what I did 7 years ago. I've tried - it's quite a long name and I can't do it exactly, but it's close enough - I showed them two signed bank cards and they agree that they are similar. Having the manager witness and sign it would have solved the problem.

I believe in naming and shaming in this case as they were sod all help. Airtel, Ganpati Plaza, Jaipur

Trying to locate an apartment, meet up with people etc without a phone and I realise I'm like a fish without water. So come on Airtel. You worked brilliantly for a week and you officially suck until you switch me back on again.

Rant over

Lotus1

AliG - that is VERY annoying!
I heard about the same thing happening and was told to deal with only the brand stores as opposed to random kiosks, but it seems you did deal with an Airtel store directly.

I arrive in India in a few weeks and what I'm worried about is getting a phone, it works, and then I'm halfway across the country when they pull the plug on it... no hope of even getting back to the store... Are there ways of sorting it out 100% at the time of purchase?

AliG1000

yay - phone is working. The Airtel store had all the branding, only dealt with Airtel products but was actually run a different marketing/services company. (maybe it was this which made the manager reluctant to place an X anywhere).

No guaranteed method that I can tell to get a working one. Just insist on a manager to check over all the paperwork

umwhat

Hey guys! I will be landing in Mumbai (then Bangalore) on my way to Dharmapuri district in Tamil Nadu. I need a phone or sim card to make calls to the US.

Any advice on carriers down in Dharmapuri? Also, a phone or just a sim card? Finally, is there any way I can buy a phone or sim card at either of the airports?

Thanks!

steviej

I bought a airtel sim card in Goa 11 months ago. I managed to use the phone in Chennai. I will be going to Rajisthan this November before going on to goa. First will my sim card be registered after 11 months and will I be able to use it in Goa and Dehli

Aishah

If you have paid validity on it your card will still work. Dial *123# and see what it tells you. If it has no validity and is still not cut off completely you can buy a recharge to give you more.

steviej

Thanks Aishah

Ferg

Just walked into the Airtel shop In Bombay-Churchgate (note shop, not a street stall) with passport&visa and photocopy of each, 2 passport pictures and a bill from my (small) hotel as proof of address. Airtel staff insist that I have to have an address of my own ie rent/bank statement type details, or address of a friend. I ask how long this has been the case and he says a year. Gotta love the inconsistancy, but not the hassle. Indian sims may be cheap but the upwards of 2000 rupees you'll be paying on hotels etc for the time it takes you to just sort it isn't. Fortunatly I do have a friend here, but that shouldn't be expected of travellers. It makes me think, if a terrorist does want a mobile that badly all he'd have to do is talk to the recycling people in the slums for thrown away bank statements etc, something a tourist is unlikely to do.

Ferg

Got a friend to get me a SIM in her name in the end, and for that she needed to prove residency ie rental proof and voting/tax card. To be able to vouch for me and allow me to have a card in my name she'd have had to have deeds to her own house in Mumbai!