hookthem

I'm headed to New Delhi, India next month for a medical mission trip. I have an unlocked AT&T iPhone 5 (nano SIM card) and am looking for anyone that has experience with purchasing pre-paid cell phone plans over there?

Specifically, I'd like to buy enough for 30 minutes a day (to the USA) over 5 days = 150 minutes, and 500 MB of data.

I see a lot of websites, but they all seem very expensive. My understanding is that you can go to a local shop in India and get it for a LOT cheaper.

Anyone know of a reasonable place to pre-purchase the SIM card online? I'm going with a lot of people, and don't want to have to make an extra stop to purchase a SIM card when we get there.

hookthem

FYI -- if we find an answer, we should add it to the following sticky:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...m-threads.html

infusegm

I own a travel ageny and I go to India often and I was in India in last month. After you go though Immigration and Customs, you go out to the arrival Main Hall area. Near the exit to the street, you will see Aircel, Vodafone and other prepaid sim providers there. I have used both Aircel and Vodafone and I didn't notice any difference. They have the sim cards there and you pay less than $20 for 1GB of data for 30days. You can add more if you need at a store. What you will need is 1) Copy of your passport. (They have a copy machine there but bring your own) 2) Your hotel name and address in Delhi 3) Passport picture (They have a camera to take your picture). Since your flight comes in past midnight, they will give you a phone number to call from your cell phone after 1pm next day. They just require that you are still in the area that you got the sim card from. On your call, just tell them that you want to activate your phone and prepaid data plan and they will ask you couple of security questions like what is your fathers name and the name of the hotel you are staying at in Delhi. (These are questions you will fill out on the application). After about another 15 to 30 mins, your phone is active. I usually have to reboot the phone and it works great. When you fly home, take out the India sim card with a paper clip and than put your old sim card back in. Thats it..... Hope this helps.

Here is a link to the Main Arrival Hall in Delhi that shows you where the Telecom People are located: http://www.newdelhiairport.in/T3-interactivemap.html

hookthem

This is great advice, thank you so much! I leave on Saturday, and will let you know how it goes.

IndyHoosier

Does anyone know if there are prepaid sim providers at BOM like the ones at DEL that were mentioned above?

asdf1223

I don't think so but I may have missed it. You should be able to get one with a copy of your passport at any of the local shops.

There is also a very useful Indian SIM thread in the Indian forums. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/india...im-card-8.html

IndyHoosier

Thanks! I think I'll just try a local shop in Mumbai.

abari

My friend from Delhi mentioned if you know someone local it's super easy and cheaper for them to get you a sim card, but that might not work for everyone. He also said that data is cheap there (at least compared to North American prices). Not sure if that helps you but it's always good to have more info.

IndyHoosier

That actually is very helpful information since I will be visiting relatives in Mumbai. I thought it would be better to get it at the airport, but it sounds like having one of my relatives get the sim would be easier. Thanks!

shonamac

I will be visiting India soon and need a reliable Internet solution for my laptop. Are there any pre-paid SIMs that I can buy (I already have an unlocked 2G modem that takes full size SIM cards) or, even better, Mi-Fi, solutions available?

Ideally I would like to buy it upon arrival at Delhi airport for use immediately thereafter. Can this be activated immediately after purchase?

How much should I expect to pay for about 10-days usage?

aanswer

Just coming back from India and I had an awful experience with this - you CANNOT activate the SIM immediately. It can take up to 24 hours to make it happen and requires a passport, a passport photo and some additional details.

Once you have that, it works like a charm!

transparent

Was only in Mumbai and India for 3 days. Went to get my SIM the morning on the second day (I hadn't done research in advance, so I didn't know about how long it takes to activate). First place I went, was an Airtel express. They refused to sell one to me given my short time.

The second place was an official Vodafone center. They helped me, I think I got overcharged a bit (Rs600 for SIM card and 1GB, only after repeatedly trying to upsell). Was told it would be activated in 2-3 hours. Did not ever activate before I had to leave. Next time will try at the airport or get T-mo.

puchong

I have had a similar experience with Vodafone

puchong

Does anyone have more recent information? I will be arriving in Calcutta, late at night, and from earlier visits do not recall any vendors that are open and selling SIM cards.

Besides I read that India now requires an 'Aadhar" card to get a phone connection and I do not have one of those.

kb9522

There are a lot of legal hoops that one has to jump through to get a SIM in India... of course at the right shop and for the right price, it's not an issue. I've never had a problem with it.