Setting up Cell/Data in India

Easy as pie. You just either gotta walk a long ways, or get a ride to find a cellular network store :)

The two best companies in Goa are Vodafone or IDEA... Airtell won't make it here for another couple years, but when they do, Im sure everyone will switch since they are even more lightneing fast. Some say IDEA has the best service, however, the friends I know who have IDEA, they also have no service to 1-2 bars inside any of their homes, and this goes for areas like Mapusa and Assagao. However, when Im in the same house as them, my Vodafone has 4-5 bars at all times.

FIRST

You will need your actual Passport AND a copy of the first page of passport in order to sign up for new cell service. Provide them with your physical address in India. The applications all go in a stack with everyone's else's so it's quite secure for India.

You will also need a "local reference." I used my housekeepers name and his phone number. They also ask for your fathers name, you can make up a name if you choose. Just remember the name in case they ever ask for account identity purposes. They used my middle name as my surname for the application... don't get me started on the weird things Indian's do here...Thats a WHOLE other blog of worms right there.

FINAL STEP:

Vodafone boy then gives you the sim card, these all hang on the wall and you just rip one off. The sim will need to be cut to the size of the sim slot in your phone, since Indian sims are usually large ones. If they don't have a cutter there, you can find a smaller Vodaphone shop or take it to the market and a guy willl then cut it to size with a puncher so that the new sim fits into the tiny sim slot. Iphones have an even smaller sim, so same goes for them. That costs 50 rupee/81 cents.

You wait until after 7pm when you call the 711 number and activate by giving the customer service person your name and address, which confirms your identity, and bingo! You're all set! Locals have told me that they have to sometimes wait days for their phone number to activate in order that their number isnt a recycled phone number. I never had a single issue with mine except receiving someons Tata bill statements in Messages.

It cost me 198rs / $3.50 USD for first time user discount, so I got a whole load of 4G speed and 249rs talk time. I will explain the perfect plan in the following paragraph, because if you open a YouTube video like I did, your plan will be out in a day with a 1 GB plan.

EVERY MONTH

WHEN that happens or when your 2 8days has expired:

Go to any celluar/hole in the wall cell phone store - they call these places "RECHARGE" stores - in the US, they are run by Asians..you know what Im talkin about "the off brand stores".

You ask the guy if they do recharge for "Vodafone", give him your cell number, they write it in a notebook and then write next to it, how many rupee you want for call usage and for data plan usage or they will have you type your phone number into their cell. Then they type a secret code into theircellphone, which then sends your cell a text message, confirming that the amount of rupee was deposited into your cellular account. FINISHED!

Best is to pay: 249rupee for call and 300 rupee for data. I have not even gone close to going over with this plan. Cost me about $9 USD. Also, make sure they give you the 1 rupee they owe you... j/k lol. No really, Indians DO NOT like to give back change or the correct change at times...so Always have your brain or calculator turned on. They also sometimes are super nice and give you back more change and some say "discount for you today!" Ive had this happen twice, so it always evens out :)

Here at this store, the guy got embarrased that I asked him for my 1 rupee and had to dig it out of his personal wallet and smiled "here you go". ! Usually I don't mind, but the day before, the lady at the grocery store owed me 35 rupee and told me she gave me change and it was CANDY! Im like "Candy is not cash!".

ALL INCOMING CALLS ARE FREE!!!! There is no such thing as unlimted, but you can do PrePaid or PostPaid - which gives you the bill every month. No matter what, $9 sure beats At&t's $80 plan! Plus there are no taxes on cell service here! I have friends call me from the states and we talk for over an hour each time and it doesn't use a single minute or data of my usage! I love it.

My service has never dropped in 9 months except for one time during a holi week in April when there were a ton of people in town. It has been crystal loud & clear and fast internet.

I did get IDEA with a USB dongle at one point. HORRIBLE! They lie about their plans, when you recharge, they don't recharge you with the proper amount and there is no way to check because it is a dongle. Well you can check, if you have an Indian cell, which I do have now, because the usb dongles have a large sim slot. The first time this happend I called IDEA and they were like, "it was recharged at 199 today and not 650". I did it twice and after that, never again. Stick to Vodaphone because at least their website account works legit.

Other than that I only use WhatsApp, because it is low usage, fast texting, and now you can send and recieve calls from their with high clarity. Calling the states is 9cents a minute from my cell. 1-800 numbers are always free, but beware that some 1-800 numbers will not connect for some reason.

#cellphone #vodafone