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Hijacking this thread here just a bit. We will be arriving in Delhi and spending about a week in Rajasthan. Then we fly to Kerala for another 2+ weeks. I was planning to pick up a SIM card in Delhi to use during our stay throughout India - but realize that we'll incur higher roaming rates when in the south. We won't be using the phone for much more than making local connections and emergency contact, really - so how high are these roaming rates anyway? Would it make sense to pick up a second SIM card when we arrive in Kerala? Or for a very light phone user, will it not matter much?

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heres a detailed idea abt roaming rates and normal rates.

1 rupee (Rs)=100 paise (p)

Suppose u have 60p outgoing call rate while at home state ( the state ur SIM registration belongs to). and incoming is free. and some crap offer for SMS ( 15-50p / sms ).

while roaming this rate will change to Rs 1.20 incoming and outgoing. and sms@ Rs1-1.5.

Please note that most Operators will provide GPRS and 3G roaming without any additional roaming charges. You can lookup sites of "airtel" , "idea" and "vodafone" for more details abt call charges when roaming.

I have been on roaming for 15 months in the past 18 months and i dont find that rates expensive at all. But I use postpaid. ;-). My opinion is it wont matter much.

May i suggest a wicked hack for u. when u take a new SIM, the operator will typically wait for abt 1-2 weeks time for processing your registration. i.e even if you didnt submit proper identification details, u will be able to use the SIM for 1-2 weeks before it is blocked. So if u r willing to play with the law then u may take a SIM and then discard it. Wont cause any problem as it happens a lot. And a nice tip will usually get u a fully registered SIM Card from the local guys.

Why dont u pick up one SIM from Delhi move to Kerala and pick the other one for ur partner. Will keep your costs down. :-)

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You rock, axs, bad information is as good as good information to someone that doesn't know the difference. OP will find out soon enough that little of what you said is possible.

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Or for a very light phone user, will it not matter much?

We are talking big sums here ... 1 rupee is about 1.8 cents ... so ... the extra roaming fee of 1/2 a rupee roughly - a ten minute call would cost you - roughly - an extra 9 cents.

Breaks the bank heh?

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Yeah - I think we'll have to definitely cut back on a pakora or two. Thanks for the info - it's definitely not an issue, considering what you said. I live in rural Canada where every freaking call is long distance and they really soak you for everything. The word "roaming" just makes me break out in hives.

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I'm from Canada ... I know the cost of running cell phones ... our 2 run us $150 a month minimum. India is basically 'free' in comparison.

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Also I heard that dongles in India don't support android.

They support Windows, as much as anything in India is supported at all. Tata's Photon Plus is the best, will work in most, if not all, metros - not out in the sticks. Likely too much work and money to bother with trying to get one. Using internet on your phone is pretty terrible.

You might just be left with whatever you find where you're visiting.

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Also I heard that dongles in India don't support android.

They support Mac OSX ... if your running it in 32 bit.

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The link in #1 gives nothing but pictures of monkies, quo vadis.?

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Yeah, but they are Android using monkeys ...

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My shona baba beginning a new job in the software biz has much the same opinion..

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@pirate it is not abt being possible or immpossible . It depends on how badly the guy wants the SIM. Its just one more option open for the OP.

@edwardesco Did u try the first link?? works fine for me...

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That works but it isn't intuitive in page design. Interesting material..