Thought I'd take a punt if there were any Indians around
I will be travelling soon to India for about two weeks, which includes one week in and around Cochin, Kerala
Just wondering if anyone knows of the best sim card to use with my mobile phone for data whilst in Kerala (skype chat with folks at home)
The rest of the time will be in Bangalore, and from a previous trip I know I have access to wifi there
Hope someone will be able to advice :)
Cheerio
Just buy any Sim card like Jio there.
I used the Jio network recently over there. Worked pretty well and was a very resonable price also.
I'm assuming that I can buy Jio at a local phone shop
Would it take a while to activate?
Having a quick look at the website, it looks like it has pan India coverage
Wonder if things have changed as during my last trip to India, different networks had different territories of coverage
Airtel was good in Bangalore. But so was Vodafone. Jio was good too (It uses Airtel network in some places).
There is a nationwide drive going on to link mobile numbers to national i'd. Not sure if you will be able to purchase and activate any new number without national ID
that's a bummer- so as a tourist I hope I can pick one up with my passport as my ID
fingers crossed :)
Last time I was there I had no issues showing my passport to register the SIM. Just make sure you goto the vendor stores directly for peace of mind viz., Airtel or jio stores. I have been to cochin before and was blown away with the hospitality. We stayed at Taj Vivanta, Cochin.
Have you been yet?
I went to Cochin in 2015 and, after pre-reading there were issues for foreigners getting SIMs activated beyond the airport, I did my activation at the airport. It still required a phone call to the operator that was close to indecipherable (accent-wise), but it worked. Loved it there, and am planning on going again, probably in March, so keen to hear any recent experiences/advice.
I went to a Reliance outlet with a friend
he had to show this new thing called Adar Card (atleast I think it was called that)
he got the sim, which I used during my stay there
1G data per day
unlimited calls within India and unlimited texts
Couldn't be happier!
Airtel