using phone for travelling in India

eastmidsaver

hi,
i am wondering what is the best, and most cost effective way to use phone when travelling in India,  for around 1 month.
i have seen some options as follows:
a) get a Lebara PAYG Sim card.   but issue with this is having to have a new number, registering it etc.  and if it will actually work when out there.
b) get an E-Sim,  but i don't think my phone is compatible with these.
c) get to India, and then buy a local SIM card.   maybe cheaper,  but maybe still issue of needing to register it etc.
if anyone has any ideas,  it would be appreciated.

oldernonethewiser

What provider do you currently use and what are their roaming charges?
Have you confirmed that your phone can't use an eSIM?

rigolith

You can usually buy a SIM card at the airport when you arrive. They are designed for travellers, put the card in and it just works with no registration.

For international phone calls Skype is a decent option. Cheaper than normal calls in many cases. You can call any phone number with it.

eDicky

rigolith said:

You can usually buy a SIM card at the airport when you arrive. They are designed for travellers, put the card in and it just works with no registration.

"Usually"..? Perhaps you mean in most countries - but I've a feeling (without personal experience) that in the case of India it may not be so simple.

eastmidsaver

oldernonethewiser said:

What provider do you currently use and what are their roaming charges?
Have you confirmed that your phone can't use an eSIM?

currently with Talkmobile.  i did contact them and they said it would be overseas Zone 4 tarriff.   i looked at it and it's quite expensive,  so not really an option.
yes,  contacted my phone manufacturer (Samsung),  who advised my phone is not compatible for an eSIM.

eastmidsaver

rigolith said:

You can usually buy a SIM card at the airport when you arrive. They are designed for travellers, put the card in and it just works with no registration.

For international phone calls Skype is a decent option. Cheaper than normal calls in many cases. You can call any phone number with it.

I looked into this.   It appears a SIM that would cost you £1 in a Indian city,  will cost about £10 in the airport.
However,  would be happy to offset the cost vs simplicity if the Airport had no registrations etc.
I did some research and apparently in India it is not so simple, you need to register the SIM card,  prove the address you staying at,  plus the UK address.  Seems a bit of a hassle.
I have a feeling Lebara might end up being the best option at the moment.

eastmidsaver

eDicky said:

rigolith said:

You can usually buy a SIM card at the airport when you arrive. They are designed for travellers, put the card in and it just works with no registration.

"Usually"..? Perhaps you mean in most countries - but I've a feeling (without personal experience) that in the case of India it may not be so simple.

My research is telling me similar things!

tightauldgit

eastmidsaver said:

rigolith said:

You can usually buy a SIM card at the airport when you arrive. They are designed for travellers, put the card in and it just works with no registration.

For international phone calls Skype is a decent option. Cheaper than normal calls in many cases. You can call any phone number with it.

I looked into this.   It appears a SIM that would cost you £1 in a Indian city,  will cost about £10 in the airport.
However,  would be happy to offset the cost vs simplicity if the Airport had no registrations etc.
I did some research and apparently in India it is not so simple, you need to register the SIM card,  prove the address you staying at,  plus the UK address.  Seems a bit of a hassle.
I have a feeling Lebara might end up being the best option at the moment.

You probably want India specific information but I've had to do this process in other countries and it's normally no more than providing your passport for ID, and a local address that works (you can show your hotel booking at the airport for example) - for me it's often worth just acepting the hit on cost at the airport for something that i know will work and they will set up for me. Although if you can hold off then a mobile shop in a shopping mall will normally provide the same service. The good news in India is the language barrier is a lot lower to deal with these things.

Personally if a Lebara SIM comes with free roaming for India then I'd just do that - set it up and get it working here a day or two before I leave and Bob's your uncle. I've never had any issue with a SIM not roaming properly when it should do - so it'll work. Provided of course the roaming limits are going to be enough for you for a month, I think it's 10GB data and 200 minutes? 

tightauldgit

eDicky said:

rigolith said:

You can usually buy a SIM card at the airport when you arrive. They are designed for travellers, put the card in and it just works with no registration.

"Usually"..? Perhaps you mean in most countries - but I've a feeling (without personal experience) that in the case of India it may not be so simple.

Yes I think this is often to do with legislation in countries requiring mobile phone users to be identified and a name linked to a number - I've had to register online in Philippines, Bosnia off the top of my head and I think in Korea and China they required a copy of my passport and probably registered that somewhere. Probably a lot more countries on that list too. It's never been a big deal though - but it's something i'd probably rather do with assistance at a shop/airport just in case there's an issue. My last Philippines SIM was a pain to register - only realised it's because my apartment had such bad reception that i couldn't receive any of the OTP that they were sending. Managed to finish the job by going outside to do it.

eDicky

tightauldgit said:

eDicky said:

rigolith said:

You can usually buy a SIM card at the airport when you arrive. They are designed for travellers, put the card in and it just works with no registration.

"Usually"..? Perhaps you mean in most countries - but I've a feeling (without personal experience) that in the case of India it may not be so simple.

Yes I think this is often to do with legislation in countries requiring mobile phone users to be identified and a name linked to a number

That is normal almost everywhere. But when I say 'not so simple' in India, I mean compared to other countries where you need to be identified but there's a convenient system and you have your SIM immediately.

rigolith

The staff at the airport will know how to get it set up quickly. Which airport?

From what I read you can just go to the Airtel store at Delhi airport and they will get you a prepaid SIM, handling all the registration and activation. You just need your passport as ID.