Is it economical to buy an Indian Sim Card for calls within India and for calling land lines (and on the rare occasion mobiles) back home(U.K)
Hi all! I'm completely new to the travel forum so apologies if I've posted in the wrong area!
In either event, I need some help. I'm going travelling around India at the end of January for between 3-5 months(depending how much money I can scrape together and how long it lasts!) and I was planning on taking a mobile phone and buying an Indian Sim Card to make phone calls for booking tickets, accomodation etc. in india as well as calling home and home calling me.
A few questions:
I was wondering how easy it was to buy a Sim Card in India?
Is there anyone who can recommend a particular network?
How much does it cost to call UK mobile/landlines and Indian landlines
Can one Sim be used all over India?
Am I likely to be charged for receiving calls?
Any help would really be appreciated!! Tried to search around but feel like I'm going in a circle between Skype, Lycamobile and international roaming on my UK Sim, all of which seem either a tad expensive or not really much of a mobile substitute.
Reply to this After hours of running back and forth between my hotel and the mobile phone shop (getting passport photos, a phoney Indian address etc) I finally acquired an Indian prepaid SIM in Bangalore. The following day, I left the state of Karnataka and went to Kerala. Upon arriving in Kerala I was informed that my phone was now on roaming so that any incoming calls cost money and my credit soon expired. Also, the network was 'Spice' which didn't exist in any other state so recharge was impossible. I then bought one that I think was Tel-air or something like that. That was better and I think it allowed changing from state to state but I can also sort of remember buying a 3rd SIM (funny how you forget!)
the up shot is, the sim cards are very very cheap as are call rates so it doesn't really matter if you need a new one every now and then.
All this reminiscing is making me hungry for dosai!
Have fun!
Reply to this Lol. Does sound like you had a few adventures trying to get hold of a Sim Card! I've had a closer look at the Airtel coverage as well as rates and its exactly what I was looking for! Another tick on my travel list!!
Thanks for your help Leeroy, much appreciated!
Cheers!
Reply to this Airtel, Vodafone, Idea or even BSNL is good. To get a sim card you will have to run around a bit as you need a Indian address. Roaming charges are not very high though, you can manage with a single sim card if your ready to spare 1re per incoming call. Even outgoing calls are 1.50 rs
Reply to this Thanks for the reply Abz. That is my only main concern really, are sellers quite strict about the rules regarding having an Indian address or is it just a case of asking around as many places as possible??
Reply to this It depends on how you talk to the dealer. Because of the terrorist threats and all it become difficult these days. Make friends with the sim card dealer or any Indian who could get you a sim card trusting you by giving his name and address. if its bangalore or mumbai I might be able to help you
Reply to this The address I ended up using was the hotel I was staying at. It seemed like they just needed something to enter into the 'Address' box...
Reply to this Cool, sounds good to me! I'll just have to be friendly as possible (and make sure I have my hotel address to hand!) and see where it gets me! I can always try another place if the first/second/third/fourth one fails!!
Thanks for the info guys!
Reply to this Purchasing phone or a SIM card in many countries now a days is tricky, as phones can be used for purposes other than they were designed for.
Point is each country has their unique way of tracking phones, specially cell phones because they move. Don't expect to buy one without some background checks and questioning, it's true in many/most countries.
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