Sim Card in India

[straitman]

Has anyone of the India travelers been able to come up with a suitable option for purchasing a Sim card for use whilst in India? (phone & data options would be good)

 

[nlagalle]

Has anyone of the India travelers been able to come up with a suitable option for purchasing a Sim card for use whilst in India? (phone & data options would be good)

Bill,

If you are traveling over India I would recommend Voda or Aircell.

To get a prepaid sim, you will need a passport photo for each service, so one for voice sim and for a data sim. It's been a year since I was in Delhi so not sure how big 3G coverage is (we used MTNL for data last time)

Hope that helps some!

Nick

 

[straitman]

Bill,

If you are traveling over India I would recommend Voda or Aircell.

To get a prepaid sim, you will need a passport photo for each service, so one for voice sim and for a data sim. It's been a year since I was in Delhi so not sure how big 3G coverage is (we used MTNL for data last time)

Hope that helps some!

Nick

Thanks Nick,

I have been told by my contact on the ground in Delhi that their bureaucracy is so great that it will take up to couple of weeks to get it sorted. I was hoping there might be an easier way.

 

[nlagalle]

Thanks Nick,

I have been told by my contact on the ground in Delhi that their bureaucracy is so great that it will take up to couple of weeks to get it sorted. I was hoping there might be an easier way.

Surely not.. I did mine very quickly as it was a prepaid.. Walked in and out.. The only need an address and a passport photo.

 

[davocns]

I was in India in Sept - bought a phone in one store and was escorted to a another shop to purchase a sim card etc. Entire process took about 40 mins , had to supply a passport photo as well as a copy of my passport and an address (use your hotel address). A referee was also needed - luckily had the name and phone number of a guide I had used and he vouched for me. Make sure your sim can be used India wide and any of the services that come with it can be used outside of the state you purchase it in. Be prepared to get constant text messages offering you the latest songs etc !

 

[Simo]

I was in India in Sept - bought a phone in one store and was escorted to a another shop to purchase a sim card etc. Entire process took about 40 mins , had to supply a passport photo as well as a copy of my passport and an address (use your hotel address). A referee was also needed - luckily had the name and phone number of a guide I had used and he vouched for me. Make sure your sim can be used India wide and any of the services that come with it can be used outside of the state you purchase it in. Be prepared to get constant text messages offering you the latest songs etc !

I have some friends going to India and one of the locals have organised it for them.

The music would be interesting!!

 

[Fantic125]

The music would be interesting!!

After 7 visits in 8 months you quickly tire of the sound of the sitar.....

I used a pre-paid from Reliance and found it ok. It would drop out every so often, but coverage was ok albeit a bit slow.

 

[DeKa]

After going through getting prepaid sims a few times in India, if all you want is data I now use iPhoneTrip.com there. They usually roam on Vodafone 3G and speeds are ok (not great). If you want a local number, this is not the way to go about it, nor is it cheap but it works well enough and means you're ready to go the moment you land.

If you are signing up for a local Indian prepaid sim the comments above cover pretty much everything...
passport photo, photocopy of your passport ID page, and take your passport with you, an address (hotel is ok but if you're there for work give the office address without the company name) and a local to act as a referee.

 

[an*g-bne]

It is possible to do it "unofficially" too... see Post #6 of my trip report on FT Mostly *A in C: BNE-BKK-BLR-DEL-AGR-DEL-BLR-BKK-FRA-OSL-ARN-FRA-xBKK-xSYD-BNE - FlyerTalk Forums for more info.

 

[Shy180]

Make sure your sim can be used India wide and any of the services that come with it can be used outside of the state you purchase it in.

Has anyone used an iPad across India recently? Thinking of taking mine for an upcoming trip...assume obtaining a SIM is the same process as for a phone? Has anyone got any suggestions of brand for best nationwide coverage?

Cheers

 

[nlagalle]

Has anyone used an iPad across India recently? Thinking of taking mine for an upcoming trip...assume obtaining a SIM is the same process as for a phone? Has anyone got any suggestions of brand for best nationwide coverage?

Cheers

I think Vodafone works country wide. They didn't have Microsims so we took a sim cutter which did the job.

 

[straitman]

I found that phone wise it all varied a bit from state to state but the data worked in each state.

Cost was about 97 INR for 1Gb of data. (less than $A2) and 2-5 INR per text message.

 

[Shy180]

I think Vodafone works country wide. They didn't have Microsims so we took a sim cutter which did the job.

I found that phone wise it all varied a bit from state to state but the data worked in each state. Cost was about 97 INR for 1Gb of data. (less than $A2) and 2-5 INR per text message.

Thanks Nick and straitman - appreciate the feedback