Cellular phones topics - Advice Needed: Calling from India to US on a cellphone

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Advice Needed: Calling from India to US on a cellphone

Otto Pylot

2005-11-09, 11:48 pm

My daughter has been invited to a wedding in India. She will be gone
from December 11 to January 4 and travelling mostly alone. Her plan is
to arrive about 10 days before the wedding, sight-see, attend the
wedding, and then do a little more sight-seeing before heading home.
She's flying Singapore Airlines to Delhi and then travelling south by
train. We have a brand-new, unbranded, unlocked, quad-band phone that
she is going to use (Moto v635).

What is the best way to obtain a SIM card for her to use?

What should we look out for in the way of charges, etc?

Whose service is reliable?

She needs to be able to call within India as well as call home.

I'd like for her to have the card before she leaves. That way we know
what her phone number is and all she would have to do is activate it
once she lands in Delhi. Or should she wait and get the card at the
airport, and if she does, whom should she get it from?

We will be using a pre-paid phone card to call her from our landline
(SBC) once we know what her phone number is. Our cell phone service is
Cingular Blue if it makes a difference.

Obviously this international travel thing is new to us so any and all
advice and/or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

--
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My address has been anti-spammed.
Please reply to: scasse@invalid.net replacing invalid with sonic.

Donald Newcomb

2005-11-09, 11:48 pm

"Otto Pylot" <otto@bogus.address.invalid> wrote in message
news:091120051802093
364%otto@bogus.address.invalid...
> What is the best way to obtain a SIM card for her to use?

It depends on what you mean when you say "best". If you mean "foolproof" you
might want to look at
http://www.telestial.com/products/india_sim.htm or
http://www.cellularabroad.com/indiappsc.html
with the understanding that these services charge a hefty premium for their
service.
OTOH, maybe someone in the family inviting your daughter has a spare SIM she
can use while she's there.

I have no experience to give you any advice on calling to/from India. I
understand that Reliance India specializes in calls to/from India:
https://www.relianceindiacall.com/

--
Donald R. Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net

Otto Pylot

2005-11-10, 2:48 am

In article <4372bfd4_3@news1.prserv.net>, Donald Newcomb
<DRNewcomb@NOT.attglobal.net> wrote:

> "Otto Pylot" <otto@bogus.address.invalid> wrote in message
> news:091120051802093
364%otto@bogus.address.invalid...
>
> It depends on what you mean when you say "best". If you mean "foolproof" you
> might want to look at

What I meant is should we go for an online service before hand or just
wait and purchase a card at the airport in Delhi, and from which
provider?

> http://www.telestial.com/products/india_sim.htm or
> http://www.cellularabroad.com/indiappsc.html
> with the understanding that these services charge a hefty premium for their
> service.
> OTOH, maybe someone in the family inviting your daughter has a spare SIM she
> can use while she's there.

We're looking into that but it's unlikely.

>
> I have no experience to give you any advice on calling to/from India. I
> understand that Reliance India specializes in calls to/from India:
> https://www.relianceindiacall.com/

Reliance is who we will use to get a pre-paid phone card to call from
here to there. I don't think Reliance offers SIM cards to call from
there to here.

--
Deja Moo: I've seen this bullshit before.

My address has been anti-spammed.
Please reply to: scasse@invalid.net replacing invalid with sonic.

Ajanta

2005-11-10, 2:48 am

Otto Pylot <otto@bogus.address.invalid> wrote:

: My daughter has been invited to a wedding in India. She will be gone
: from December 11 to January 4 and travelling mostly alone...
:
: What is the best way to obtain a SIM card for her to use?
: ...
: I'd like for her to have the card before she leaves. That way we know
: what her phone number is and all she would have to do is activate it
: once she lands in Delhi. Or should she wait and get the card at the
: airport, and if she does, whom should she get it from?
: ...
: Obviously this international travel thing is new to us so any and all
: advice and/or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

A card from the US would be more expensive. Of course, nothing wrong
with her having one for use during the first 1-2 days.

For calling the US, she should use a PCO whenever possible. They are
everywhere, a bit like pay phones with an attendant. :)

A cell phone is great for being reachable, and it would be economic for
her to use it for local calls. Ask one of your friends to buy a sim
card in advance (in their own name). They'll know the local scene, who
has the best 1 month rate etc. She can leave any unused minutes with
them.

Getting a sim card in India has gone the way of flying in the US. It
used to be easy, but ever since terrorists started using cell phones to
coordinate their activities, paperwork and checking etc have become
tedious and slow.

Otto Pylot

2005-11-10, 2:48 am

In article < 091120052322393585%a
janta@null.void>, Ajanta
<ajanta@null.void> wrote:

> Otto Pylot <otto@bogus.address.invalid> wrote:
>
> : My daughter has been invited to a wedding in India. She will be gone
> : from December 11 to January 4 and travelling mostly alone...
> :
> : What is the best way to obtain a SIM card for her to use?
> : ...
> : I'd like for her to have the card before she leaves. That way we know
> : what her phone number is and all she would have to do is activate it
> : once she lands in Delhi. Or should she wait and get the card at the
> : airport, and if she does, whom should she get it from?
> : ...
> : Obviously this international travel thing is new to us so any and all
> : advice and/or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
>
> A card from the US would be more expensive. Of course, nothing wrong
> with her having one for use during the first 1-2 days.
>
> For calling the US, she should use a PCO whenever possible. They are
> everywhere, a bit like pay phones with an attendant. :)

PCO? Don't know what that is.

>
> A cell phone is great for being reachable, and it would be economic for
> her to use it for local calls. Ask one of your friends to buy a sim
> card in advance (in their own name). They'll know the local scene, who
> has the best 1 month rate etc. She can leave any unused minutes with
> them.

Unfortunately we don't know anyone in India. I suppose we could ask her
co-worker (the one who invited her to India).

>
> Getting a sim card in India has gone the way of flying in the US. It
> used to be easy, but ever since terrorists started using cell phones to
> coordinate their activities, paperwork and checking etc have become
> tedious and slow.

That's what I was afraid of.

--
Deja Moo: I've seen this bullshit before.

My address has been anti-spammed.
Please reply to: scasse@invalid.net replacing invalid with sonic.

Ajanta

2005-11-10, 5:48 pm

Otto Pylot <otto@bogus.address.invalid> wrote:

: > For calling the US, she should use a PCO whenever possible. They are
: > everywhere, a bit like pay phones with an attendant. :)
:
: PCO? Don't know what that is.

The letters stand for Public Call Office. But that doesn't matter,
"PCO" is what most people understand. It is just a pay-phone, but
instead of depositing coins, you pay the attendant after the call. Very
civilized and safe. The presence of an attendant increases the security
of the equipment as well as customers. They are everywhere.

It is possible that smaller ones may not be hooked up for overseas
calls but most should be.

: Unfortunately we don't know anyone in India. I suppose we could ask
: her co-worker (the one who invited her to India).

If she is flying all the way for this wedding, it has got to be a good
friend. You can request their family. Indian families will gladly do
such favors for a guest.

If the family is traditional rather than "modern" the only sticky point
could be that they may not accept payment. She wont' discover that
until the last minute, when she offers the payment. If that happens: It
is good form to insist two or three times. If the refusal persists,
they are probably sincere and a graceful way out is to later give them
a suitable gift, without explicitly tying it to this matter. Of course,
another way is for your daughter to work it out with her friend.

BTW, I read her dates again. Obviously a 1-month card would be fine.
Buy maximum minutes she is likely to call herself (in India you don't
get charged for calls received); it is more hassle and more expensive
to buy extra minutes later.

My gut feeling is she should use PCO's to call USA whenever possible
and her cell phone for calls within India. But get the locals' advice
too.

Get her a copy of the Penguin Guide to India (or to the region she is
visiting) or an equivalent.

Donald Newcomb

2005-11-11, 2:48 am

"Otto Pylot" <otto@bogus.address.invalid> wrote in message
news:091120052054072
333%otto@bogus.address.invalid...
> What I meant is should we go for an online service before hand or just
> wait and purchase a card at the airport in Delhi, and from which
> provider?

Hmmm. Well, I havn't been to India yet, so I really can't say how hard it is
to get a SIM when she gets there.

--
Donald R. Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net

Ajanta

2005-11-11, 2:48 am

Donald Newcomb <DRNewcomb@NOT.attglobal.net> wrote:

: "Otto Pylot" <otto@bogus.address.invalid> wrote
: > What I meant is should we go for an online service before hand or just
: > wait and purchase a card at the airport in Delhi, and from which
: > provider?
:
: Hmmm. Well, I havn't been to India yet, so I really can't say how hard it is
: to get a SIM when she gets there.

I was there more than a year ago, someone better informed can certainly
correct me.

I don't think you can buy it at the airport. This means she's have to
go to a store in the city sometime. I don't know how long it would take
because of new security-related document checks. That's why I suggested
she should get her friend's family to buy one in advance.

When she arrives at the airport, she can and should use a
PCO---basically a pay phone with an attendant, but you have to say
"PCO" otherwise nobody local will know what you mean---to make calls.
This is probably also the best way to call USA whenever a PCO is
available to her.

There is probably no harm in taking a SIM from here for immediate use.
However these will be very expensive especially for India-to-India
calls. So the sooner she gets an Indian SIM the better.

Dogfart

2005-11-11, 5:48 pm

On Wed, 09 Nov 2005, at 18:02:09 [GMT -0800] (13:02:09 Thursday, 10 November
2005 where I live) "Otto Pylot" wrote:

> What is the best way to obtain a SIM card for her to use?

Just be aware that India is a mish mash of carriers (or it was when I went
there last) with each city seeming to have an exclusive set of carriers, or
depending where you are, one carrier only.

Instead of selling licences on a national basis, the Indian bureaucrats
decided to go down this path, probably because it increased the opportunity
for graft and corruption.

So whatever sim works in Delhi, may not work elsewhere.

Dogfart

2005-11-11, 5:48 pm

On Thu, 10 Nov 2005, at 16:39:44 [GMT GMT] (03:39:44 Friday, 11 November
2005 where I live) "Ajanta" wrote:

> The letters stand for Public Call Office. But that doesn't matter,
> "PCO" is what most people understand. It is just a pay-phone, but
> instead of depositing coins, you pay the attendant after the call. Very
> civilized and safe.

But not necessarily clean and healthy!

SMS

2005-11-11, 5:48 pm

Dogfart wrote:

> Instead of selling licences on a national basis, the Indian bureaucrats
> decided to go down this path, probably because it increased the opportunity
> for graft and corruption.

Sounds like the U.S.! Some carriers are also now deploying CDMA in India.

Donald Newcomb

2005-11-11, 11:48 pm

"SMS" <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in message
news:4374f31f$0$5474
9$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net...
> Dogfart wrote:
>
opportunity[color=da
rkred]
>
> Sounds like the U.S.! Some carriers are also now deploying CDMA in India.

Very similar to the US and similar to the US consolodation in the wireless
market is underway. So, some prepaid SIMs allow you to roam all over India
at a very reasonable rate. The CDMA carrier is Reliance:
http://www.relianceinfo.com/Infocom...m_homepage.html
which is the same company mentioned earlier for long distance calls to/from
India.

--
Donald R. Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net

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