In a culture brought up on family plans, carrier competition, and burner mobiles, I was absolutely shocked to experience how hard it is to obtain a local Indian cell phone number.
I decided I needed to get a local phone because my calls back to the states, both direct line and toll free, kept dropping, and I've been having to use the expensive hotel line to make work calls. I figured if I had a local number, I can use that for calling my co-workers here, and making cheaper calls back to the states.
After the Mumbai terrorist attacks of 2008, which lasted four days, killed 164 people and wounded over 300 people, India tightened the requirements for obtaining a local number. These restrictions are said to improve national security and make it harder for terrorists to communicate with each other.
Since my teenage years were shaped by 9/11 and the national security concerns that have dominated public conversation since, I can sympathize with the way the Indian government responded to the Mumbai attacks by tightening their grip on who could get a phone.
To obtain my local number, I had to talk to the admin at my local office, who contacted the carrier (Airtel) representative assigned to our office. The representative showed up a few hours later. I had to provide him with two hard copy passport photos, a letter from my company stating that I was employed by them, a company reference (including a copy of their passport), my local tax ID, copies of my Indian visa, passport, and proof of US address; and proof of local address. I also had to sign in almost 10 places, including across two of my photographs, which the Airtel rep pasted to my application.
After I obtained my SIM card (by signing away my first-born child, as some would say), I then asked the admin how I could get a phone for the SIM card.
His answer? "Oh. You'll have to figure that out."
I reached out to some colleagues who provided names of some electronic stores close by (which apparently means more than an hour away). I went to the stores one afternoon, shopped around, and purchased a Samsung Galaxy J2, much like this one:
After convincing the sales rep that I needed help activating the phone with the SIM card, I had to call Airtel customer service and spent over 10 minutes verifying my information with them in order to have my card activated for calls and data.
Finally, two hours after calling them, my phone was activated, and I was able to make local calls and send cheap local texts.
All was going well until yesterday, when I tried to place a call and was informed by the automated voice (Indian, with a British accent) that outgoing calls were banned from my number. Calls to multiple customer service lines were unsuccessful. Apparently, Airtel has a certain number of days to physically verify my residential address (read: someone actually shows up at your address to verify that you stay there and makes you sign a piece of paper. Can you imagine if that happened for high school sports residencies?).
It took a full 36 hours for my admin to get in contact with our company's representative, who insisted that I needed to visit the customer service center. I insisted back that I was happy to fax or email the residency proof but that I would NOT be traveling to the store.
After 9 emails and 10 phone calls - my phone is working. Yippee!!
This is one #TransitionTrial that I am glad to have overcome. If you need to reach me in India, please message me for my local number :)
I decided I needed to get a local phone because my calls back to the states, both direct line and toll free, kept dropping, and I've been having to use the expensive hotel line to make work calls. I figured if I had a local number, I can use that for calling my co-workers here, and making cheaper calls back to the states.
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| What I needed in India |
Since my teenage years were shaped by 9/11 and the national security concerns that have dominated public conversation since, I can sympathize with the way the Indian government responded to the Mumbai attacks by tightening their grip on who could get a phone.
To obtain my local number, I had to talk to the admin at my local office, who contacted the carrier (Airtel) representative assigned to our office. The representative showed up a few hours later. I had to provide him with two hard copy passport photos, a letter from my company stating that I was employed by them, a company reference (including a copy of their passport), my local tax ID, copies of my Indian visa, passport, and proof of US address; and proof of local address. I also had to sign in almost 10 places, including across two of my photographs, which the Airtel rep pasted to my application.
 |
| Pasting my picture on my SIM card application |
His answer? "Oh. You'll have to figure that out."
I reached out to some colleagues who provided names of some electronic stores close by (which apparently means more than an hour away). I went to the stores one afternoon, shopped around, and purchased a Samsung Galaxy J2, much like this one:
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| My Indian smart phone model |
Finally, two hours after calling them, my phone was activated, and I was able to make local calls and send cheap local texts.
All was going well until yesterday, when I tried to place a call and was informed by the automated voice (Indian, with a British accent) that outgoing calls were banned from my number. Calls to multiple customer service lines were unsuccessful. Apparently, Airtel has a certain number of days to physically verify my residential address (read: someone actually shows up at your address to verify that you stay there and makes you sign a piece of paper. Can you imagine if that happened for high school sports residencies?).
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| I signed more times for a cell phone than I did for my mortgage |
After 9 emails and 10 phone calls - my phone is working. Yippee!!
This is one #TransitionTrial that I am glad to have overcome. If you need to reach me in India, please message me for my local number :)
