Please Confirm My Sanity (India)

[Stu]

I was just in India for a wedding. The bride's best friend was one of those pushy know-it-alls that everyone hates. She had what I'm guessing was a Manx/IOM SIM being marketed to educators traveling abroad.

After extolling how incoming calls were free in India to me, I briefly corrected her, she told me that I was nuts, how the system announced her credit and it was free. Not feeling like arguing, I let the "Wookie Win" and told her a story about how TMobile didn't used to charge me for free incoming calls before 2001 and let it go at that. Now she is telling everyone that I know how I don't know anything about GSM or technology.

Could someone please confirm my sanity.

[meir]

Take it easy. Wishing you good luck.

[andy]

Geodesa says incoming calls in India cost £1.81 per minute. Simazing says $0.81. It's cheaper in Cuba.

If it's Maxsim she can call London for $3.11 per minute. On a Hutch SIM about 17c

[prion]

They only chance someone has free incoming there is if he forwards to a local sim (using a manx sim).

[petkow]

Having travelled to India several times, I have really needed a decent roaming product there, and searched high and low, and can assure you that there is no international SIM that gives free incoming. The only option is via call forwarding to a local. Even the numerous local SIM's I have bought, have rarely managed to pan over 2 trips because of the short validity periods. I know now for a slightly higher outlay one can get a far better prepaid product, but even then I have been stuck with cards being tied to certain zones within the country and needing to pay incoming roaming charges whilst out of state etc.

As far as I know there is not even a prepaid SIM available within India (at any price) that genuinely gives you free incoming calls wherever you are in the country. This is because the numbering range for mobiles (starting 98 ) are tied to a specific area (or "cluster" as they are known there). Take an example of this tariff list that I found of one popular provider (BPL Mobile): Their prepaid package is called "mots" (MObile on the Spot) http://www.bplmobile.com/mumbai/mum_nat_roam.htm
It states that incoming calls are charged at Rs.1.75 whilst roaming within India. AFIK This is comparible with most prepaid "roaming" products available within India.

[DRNewcomb]

I have it on good authority that Stu is not sane but this has nothing to do with his knowledge of GSM roaming. Really, you can't prove a negative. It's possible that there was some mistake that allowed her to have free calls in India. For years T-Mobile didn't charge me for roaming (at all). All you can say is that none of us here have found any SIM that claims to provide free incoming calls in India.

[snidely]

DR - I was one of those who didn't get billed by Omnipoint/Voicestream/TM. As I recall, I did get billed on some trips, but not others.
(Of course no one racks up intl. miles like you -except, maybe, Stu). FWIW, I had a NYC number because Omnipoint/VS/TM wasn't in Ca. at the time.

I actually wrote the pres. of TM to point out they weren't billing intl. roamers, (a real paper letter) Never got a response!
Once loaned my "old" TM phone to a friend who went on a two week trip. When she asked what was owed, I said probably nothing - which was true since no billing ever showed up.

...mt

All carriers charge a lot to roam in India because of a high RPP charge.