Interesting. In Australia, you go to any store or 7-11/newsagent, buy a SIM starter kit, show photo ID and sign a document saying you're not a terrorist, then out in the SIM and activate it online or over the phone.
Getting a SIM card in India
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Re: Getting a SIM card in India
#12It used to be relatively hassle free until the terrorist attacks of recent years (they used cellphones to coordinate movement). Indian KYC (know your customer) rules are the counterpart of having to take your shoes off at the airport in the US.
Re: Getting a SIM card in India
#13I know the process in Europe (Germany & Italy, at least) is similar, without the need for a local reference or visa. I was very surprised (and frustrated) to discover the need for a photocopy of my passport, but the need for connectivity and the inexpensiveness of the plans finally won me over.
while nominally the process in Germany is similar, if you do get a SIM from a touristy area, they don't really put you through the paperwork. I went into a store and brought a SIM card and they didn't even ask for an address, the shop assistant put his own store's address into the customer address field on the point of sale system. In the UK there are vending machines at the airport.
I also had a clerk use the store's address. As well as allow me to use my DL# as ID, now that I remember.
I wasn't necessarily trying to equate the two, but it's definitely different from the days of "buy a prepaid phone for cash", a la, Bourne. :)
Re: Getting a SIM card in India
#14Sheesh, To compare that with getting a SIM in Thailand. You go to one of the three vendors, who set up a stall at BKK hand over your phone and they insert the SIM and configure it (useful if you want Internet access). 5 minutes later and 1'000 bt (ca. 30USD) poorer (depending on the plan) you are on your merry ways.
This used to be the case in India too. Criminals used prepaid SIM cards for their communication and if memory serves me right it was also used to orchestrate a terrorist act.
Re: Getting a SIM card in India
#15I know the process in Europe (Germany & Italy, at least) is similar, without the need for a local reference or visa. I was very surprised (and frustrated) to discover the need for a photocopy of my passport, but the need for connectivity and the inexpensiveness of the plans finally won me over.
Not everywhere in Europe – from my experience to get a prepaid SIM card in Austria, France, Sweden, Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and most likely many other countries you just need to plop some cash on the counter and be on your merry way. Documentation is generally only required for a card with a contract.
Re: Getting a SIM card in India
#16It used to be relatively hassle free until the terrorist attacks of recent years (they used cellphones to coordinate movement). Indian KYC (know your customer) rules are the counterpart of having to take your shoes off at the airport in the US.
Yea. It's expected and probably still easier than doing the same in the US. I'm sure it affects common people a lot more than the actual terrorists though.
Re: Getting a SIM card in India
#17I know the process in Europe (Germany & Italy, at least) is similar, without the need for a local reference or visa. I was very surprised (and frustrated) to discover the need for a photocopy of my passport, but the need for connectivity and the inexpensiveness of the plans finally won me over.
Not everywhere in Europe – from my experience to get a prepaid SIM card in Austria, France, Sweden, Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and most likely many other countries you just need to plop some cash on the counter and be on your merry way. Documentation is generally only required for a card with a contract.
Yeah, the process of buying a SIM card in China is:
1. Go to a store (or stall) that has them.
2. Pay money.
In what I (apparently naively) thought wasn't a coincidence, that's exactly the same process that the US uses. I'm kind of shocked to hear that in some countries (Australia?!) you need documentation to purchase one.
Re: Getting a SIM card in India
#18It used to be relatively hassle free until the terrorist attacks of recent years (they used cellphones to coordinate movement). Indian KYC (know your customer) rules are the counterpart of having to take your shoes off at the airport in the US.
The know your customer rule seems to make better sense.
Re: Getting a SIM card in India
#19Getting a SIM card is equally arduous even for Indian citizens. You need to have an ID proof, address proof and of course a photo. If you are a married woman and have changed the middle/last name after marriage, you also need to give a marriage certificate copy! And you have to provide these docs at regular intervals. Despite this, some unscrupulous people manage to get hundreds of SIM cards activated, some times for…
> And you have to provide these docs at regular intervals.
I've never had to do that. Just the once at registration.
Re: Getting a SIM card in India
#20Store (Vodafone, Airtel, whatever): Think about the normal level of mobile telco bureaucracy in Europe or the US, and then multiply that times Indian bureaucracy. Nobody in the store really cares if your SIM works, they just want the day to be over with.
Stalls: If they don't hook you up with a working SIM, they don't make money :). They will give you an activated SIM and serve as your reference, but you do run the risk that something will go wrong in the process later. I've had my SIM disabled a week later because some document wasn't included (photo, hotel as an address, whatever).
But no worries, they're so cheap you can just get a new one.