Chennai (Madras) Travel Forum

We will be touring south India in February, arriving in Chennai BUT flying home from Bangalore.

I can rent a suitable cell phone in the USA, but they charge $2.99 per minute for local calls and $3.99 per minute for calls to the USA.

Would renting a cell phone in India be cheaper? But is there such a service at the Chennai and Bangalore airports? If I rent in Chennai, can I return it in Bangalore?

Perhaps someone has been through a similar experience and could offer advice.

Peter in Toronto, Canada

Hi - Do NOT rent a phone!! It will be extremely expensive!!

All phones in India have SIM cards so unless you have an unlocked US phone, you'll need to buy one here. There are phone shops all over, so you'll have no problem finding a place. You can get a cheap phone for $40-50. Then sign up for a pre-paid calling plan and get a pre-paid long distance calling card. That's the cheapest way to go. (Vodaphone and Airtel are probably the best companies.) Calls to the US should not cost more than 15 cents a minute from your cell phone.

When you apply for a prepaid, you will need to fill out an application, supply a copy of your passport and 2 photos. Now the only glitch here is that you are supposed to have proof of address in India. Since I had that, I didn't have a problem. But I don't know what you can do if you don't have that. I'm sure someone in these forums can help you out. Plenty of people come here and get phones....

Good luck!

Thanks, Donna. OK ... I did some more reasearch http://www.thetravelinsider.info/2003/0801.htm

I bought a global phone and SIM card from MOBAL for $49 US plus shipping. The actual air time in India is expensive, but much cheaper in Europe for example. But we plan to use it only for emergencies, at least in India. Thanks, Peter

Mobal Phone in India:

Incoming calls: $1.95/min
National calls: $1.95/min
Calls to the USA & Canada: $3.95/min
Calls to the UK: $3.95/min
Calls to other countries: $5.95/min
SMS text messages: $0.80/message

Buying a cell phone in India might have provided cheaper air time, but the phone we bought will work in 150 countries and is with a USA company.

Hi Peter - If you plan to use it only for emergency that's fine. There are plenty of international phone "booths" where you can make calls to the US for under 10 cents if you need to. If you do think you'll need the phone then you can still go the pre-paid route - just swap out your current sim card. We frequently travel between here and the US and we just get killed on my husband's (India) cell - we have a business that doesn't let us stay out of contact. Seems like his international roaming charges are only slightly less then your $3.99 a minute.

we always keep a cheap unlocked mobile and just buy a sim card at the airport. its cheap and very convenient. all you need is an unlocked mobile

sam

Hi Sam - Which airport?

Donna,

i mostly fly to Mumbai and there is a phone shop - think airtel, this is where i get the simcard. i phone from UK is unlocked. they need photo copy of passport and photographs, i usually carry some when going to india. once they had no sim cards and i was flying to Goa, and it was in Goa i bought the simcard. its fantastic and it only takes about 10 minutes.

Sam

i am off in May ; taking possession of an apartment in GOA