SIM recomendations for travelling to India?

Will be travelling there soon; both my usual UK operator and my
international GO-SIM SIM card are prohibitively expensive, and my
enquiries about obtaining a local SIM when I get there indicate that
it's pretty difficult to circumvent the regs about having a local
address, ID etc.

Any suggestions (obviously I know about VOIP/wifi options etc, which may
have to suffice...)

Thanks
David

In message <DeB3s.22680$U92.9825@fx11.am4>, at 07:57:28 on Tue, 11 Sep
2012, Lobster <davidlobsterpot601@hotmail.com> remarked:
>Will be travelling there soon; both my usual UK operator and my
>international GO-SIM SIM card are prohibitively expensive, and my
>enquiries about obtaining a local SIM when I get there indicate that
>it's pretty difficult to circumvent the regs about having a local
>address, ID etc.

You could always try complying with the regs. A passport and a hotel
address worked for me, but I also needed a translator.
--
Roland Perry

On 12/09/2012 13:34, Roland Perry wrote:
> In message <DeB3s.22680$U92.9825@fx11.am4>, at 07:57:28 on Tue, 11 Sep
> 2012, Lobster <davidlobsterpot601@hotmail.com> remarked:
>> Will be travelling there soon; both my usual UK operator and my
>> international GO-SIM SIM card are prohibitively expensive, and my
>> enquiries about obtaining a local SIM when I get there indicate that
>> it's pretty difficult to circumvent the regs about having a local
>> address, ID etc.
>
> You could always try complying with the regs. A passport and a hotel
> address worked for me, but I also needed a translator.

Oh OK; I was advised (by an Indian) that you needed to be a permanent
resident, and that effectively the only way would be to persuade/bribe a
local to buy one on my behalf...

Was it cost-effective / were the rates on your SIM reasonable? (On
balance I'd still rather procure something in the UK rather than
worrying about it out there.)

Thanks
David

In message <Ma04s.163752$De5.106037@fx04.am4>, at 14:36:35 on Wed, 12
Sep 2012, Lobster <davidlobsterpot601@hotmail.com> remarked:
>> You could always try complying with the regs. A passport and a hotel
>> address worked for me, but I also needed a translator.
>
>Oh OK; I was advised (by an Indian) that you needed to be a permanent
>resident, and that effectively the only way would be to persuade/bribe
>a local to buy one on my behalf...

Admittedly I was there with an International Conference, but the phone
company had a booth in the lobby with the express purpose of selling
SIMs to attendees.

>Was it cost-effective / were the rates on your SIM reasonable?

Absurdly cheap.

>(On balance I'd still rather procure something in the UK rather than
>worrying about it out there.)

I agree that's probably the best strategy in general. I wonder if there
are any companies selling foreign SIMs, like there are selling (eg)
phones that work in South Korea (pre 3G anyway).
--
Roland Perry

On Wed, 12 Sep 2012 14:36:35 +0100, Lobster
<davidlobsterpot601@hotmail.com> wrote:

>On 12/09/2012 13:34, Roland Perry wrote:
>> In message <DeB3s.22680$U92.9825@fx11.am4>, at 07:57:28 on Tue, 11 Sep
>> 2012, Lobster <davidlobsterpot601@hotmail.com> remarked:
>>> Will be travelling there soon; both my usual UK operator and my
>>> international GO-SIM SIM card are prohibitively expensive, and my
>>> enquiries about obtaining a local SIM when I get there indicate that
>>> it's pretty difficult to circumvent the regs about having a local
>>> address, ID etc.
>>
>> You could always try complying with the regs. A passport and a hotel
>> address worked for me, but I also needed a translator.
>
>Oh OK; I was advised (by an Indian) that you needed to be a permanent
>resident, and that effectively the only way would be to persuade/bribe a
>local to buy one on my behalf...
>
>Was it cost-effective / were the rates on your SIM reasonable? (On
>balance I'd still rather procure something in the UK rather than
>worrying about it out there.)

You definitely don't need to be a permanent resident.

I got a prepaid Airtel SIM card from a small shop in Mumbai last year
and it took me less than 30 minutes to get everything set up. You will
need your passport and a couple of photos, and you need proof of a
local address. The shopkeeper sent his assistant to help me get the
photos done nearby, and we also made copies of my passport and hotel
room card, which had an address on it.

The cost was Rs150 for the SIM card itself, plus I bought Rs100
additional usage credit. The photocopies were Rs48 and the passport
photos Rs100. So the equivalent of around £4.50 for everything.

The only problem was mobile internet connections were painfully slow,
almost to the point of being unusable sometimes. If I did it again I
might try another network, but I've heard that the mobile networks in
India in general are quite congested.

Chris

"Lobster" <davidlobsterpot601@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:Ma04s.163752$De5.106037@fx04.am4...
> On 12/09/2012 13:34, Roland Perry wrote:
>> In message <DeB3s.22680$U92.9825@fx11.am4>, at 07:57:28 on Tue, 11 Sep
>> 2012, Lobster <davidlobsterpot601@hotmail.com> remarked:
>>> Will be travelling there soon; both my usual UK operator and my
>>> international GO-SIM SIM card are prohibitively expensive, and my
>>> enquiries about obtaining a local SIM when I get there indicate that
>>> it's pretty difficult to circumvent the regs about having a local
>>> address, ID etc.
>>
>> You could always try complying with the regs. A passport and a hotel
>> address worked for me, but I also needed a translator.
>
> Oh OK; I was advised (by an Indian) that you needed to be a permanent
> resident, and that effectively the only way would be to persuade/bribe a
> local to buy one on my behalf...

You would never get away with that in India or Pakistan...

OTOH they are thinking of legalising it.

>
> Was it cost-effective / were the rates on your SIM reasonable? (On
> balance I'd still rather procure something in the UK rather than worrying
> about it out there.)
>
> Thanks
> David