Renting a US Cell phone to use in India

pumicepal · Dec 9th, 2007, 23:58

SOS. I will be in India for three weeks in January and need to be in radio contact with the US while I am travelling.
Can you recommend who I should rent a cell phone from and which operation has the most efficient and cost effective plan? I have gone on line myself and find it confusing. Thanks.
Jane in Boston

brownboy66 · Dec 10th, 2007, 00:06

Hi Jane

welcome to IM

Check out this thread to get an initial feel for what you need in India....

http://www.indiamike.com/india/elect...etworks-t8434/

It has alot of information re the technical requirements, as well as some of the administrative necessities as well.

It would probably be more cost effective to buy a prepay cell phone with sim card on arrival as opposed to renting - given that the cost of handsets is cheap by western standards (you can, for example, pick up phones for as little as 1-2,000 rupees - possibly even cheaper - and a good prepay plan may only set you back a few hundred rupees). Alternatively - if you have a quadband (or at least triband) unlocked GSM phone - then you can simply pick up a sim card here. By comparison I'm aware that some of the major hotels provide mobile rentals - but considering they charge like a wounded bull for room rates, I can't see that cell phone rentals would be that cheap.

In any case - check out the thread and if there are any more questions - fire away.

happy travels.

Dec 9th, 2007, 23:58	#1
pumicepal Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Boston Posts: 1	Renting a US Cell phone to use in India SOS. I will be in India for three weeks in January and need to be in radio contact with the US while I am travelling. Can you recommend who I should rent a cell phone from and which operation has the most efficient and cost effective plan? I have gone on line myself and find it confusing. Thanks. Jane in Boston

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Dec 10th, 2007, 00:06	#2
brownboy66 Chicken 65 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: New Delhi Posts: 2,265	Hi Jane welcome to IM Check out this thread to get an initial feel for what you need in India.... http://www.indiamike.com/india/elect...etworks-t8434/ It has alot of information re the technical requirements, as well as some of the administrative necessities as well. It would probably be more cost effective to buy a prepay cell phone with sim card on arrival as opposed to renting - given that the cost of handsets is cheap by western standards (you can, for example, pick up phones for as little as 1-2,000 rupees - possibly even cheaper - and a good prepay plan may only set you back a few hundred rupees). Alternatively - if you have a quadband (or at least triband) unlocked GSM phone - then you can simply pick up a sim card here. By comparison I'm aware that some of the major hotels provide mobile rentals - but considering they charge like a wounded bull for room rates, I can't see that cell phone rentals would be that cheap. In any case - check out the thread and if there are any more questions - fire away. happy travels.

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