If you have traveled to India in the past, you probably have faced the situation of trying to scurry for a decent mobile phone and Internet connection from the get go. I have been to the UK and some EU countries and like them India has adopted the GSM cellular technology. And you can get a phone over the counter without much ado there ('Welcome to Lebara Mobile'--that British accent female voice is unmistakable..:) )Plus the phones are not locked to the carriers like in the USA. I personally feel, the consumers in USA are fleeced by the 'locked phone' culture. How ironical, in the 'land of the Free'..Funny how Businesses work in USA.
Anyhow, back to India. I used to have a difficult time finding a temporary cellular phone (without having to activate 'Roaming' on my USA phone). Plus Internet connections were always a hassle because most of the services were specifically compatible to Windows OS only (I have been an exclusive Linux-phile for about 15 years now) and I would always have to struggle to find that would work with my Linux laptop.
But that was then. And here's my story of 2014 about the same in India. And I was pleasantly surprised.
As a visitor to India, here are some tips you can find useful to get --
- Prepaid mobile connection
- Broadband Internet connection that would work with Linux OS.
1) Carry a Xerox copy of your Passport from your home country
2) Carry two Passport size photos from your home country
Note: Well, if you dont have the two above, dont despair, the folks here can help you get that at the airport itself; but its easier if you have the two things handy before you come.
3) After you finish your Customs formalities and get your baggage BUT just before you exit the Airport terminal (T3 for Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport aka IGI Airport), look for kiosks that advertise Cellular and Internet services--there are many. The one that is most popular is called 'AirTel'--it is India's #1 Telecom provider.
4) Once you arrive at the Airtel (or Vodafone or Reliance kiosk)--I prefer Airtel--ask the person for A) Prepaid Mobile Sim Card B) 3G Internet Broadband connection (4G LTE is expected sometime early 2015).
5) The person will ask for the passport copy, pictures and your Address of stay in India--you can use your hotel address if you want.
Note: If you have an unlocked phone (like me) then you dont have to pay for the phone device (for the Prepaid sim card). They do have the 'Micro-sim' that my Sony Xperia Z1 Compact uses. If you DON'T have an unlocked phone you can buy one at the counter/IGI Airport for less than USD 50.
6) The Service itself is quite in-expensive compare to USA. It cost me about Rs 3000 (which is about 50 USD) for BOTH the Prepaid Cell connection and the 3G USB Internet dongle.
7) It takes about 15 minutes to get paperwork completed and you to get going to your hotel.
8) You may want to ask the contact # of the Airtel representative at the counter, just in case.
9) In my case, I specifically asked if the Internet connection would work with my Linux OS and his answer was 'Yes' and that was good for me. Also the service was functional within 2 hours. Just enough time for me to reach my destination and relax a bit.
10) Quality of service -- I was pleasantly surprised that the Internet speed is comparable to the USA -- upto 21Mbps down and 2Mbps up. ( I got about 15Mbps--see pic below). The customer service is prompt if you call 59059 from your cell for any reason.
11) Yes, again the Mobile Broadband works with Linux. I have Ubuntu 14.04 LTS and it seamlessly detects the USB dongle with the Broadband sim soon after you plug it in.
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