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Roaming in India: Rates and how to avoid it
Find everything you need to know about data roaming in India. We discuss plans, prices, and alternatives in depth.
September 23, 2024
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Do you plan to travel to India and use international roaming to stay connected? If so, you’ll need to know all about international roaming in India services to choose the ideal option for your pocket.
With different alternatives available in the US, UK, and Australia, we’ll discuss each of these international roaming services and other alternatives you can use for your trip.
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What is a roaming service?
International roaming services allow you to connect to mobile data, send texts, and make calls while traveling, but this service comes with a cost.
Depending on your company, you’ll have to pay a $10 to $15 USD daily rate or choose pay-as-you-go rates. MB prices start at $3 USD, while text messages and phone calls range from $0.25 to $1.75 USD.
Roaming is just one of the options for getting mobile internet in India. Let’s take a look at the top providers, their plans, and alternative options:
Comparison of roaming rates in India
If you want to plan your budget for data roaming in India, it’s better to know how much each mobile provider charges. So, here’s a side-by-side comparison before discussing each one and what they offer in more detail.
| Cellular provider | Cost |
| Holafly eSIM card | $8.90/unlimited data |
| AT&T | $12 USD with Travel Pass |
| T-Mobile | $80 to $105 USD for a plan or $15 USD per MB |
| Verizon | $2.05 USD per MB or $10 USD for the Travel Pass |
| Vodafone | £7.39 (~$9.86 USD) per day |
| Three | £3 (~$4 USD) per MB consumed |
| Rogers | $15/10MB or $15 with Roam Like Home per day |
Roaming rates in India by mobile provider
Now that we know how much each company charges let’s talk about the details of their international roaming plans.
Roaming in India with AT&T
AT&T currently offers two roaming options: a daily pass and pay-as-you-go rates.
With their International Pass, using the AT&T international roaming service in India costs $12 USD daily. Even though it’s a pricey option, you’ll get unlimited data, phone calls, and text messages.
Even though the fixed daily fee is a better option, the pay-as-you-go option is still available. These cost:
- $3 USD per minute
- $0.50 USD per message
- $2.05 USD per MB
Overall, you’ll spend more using these rates, but it’s still worth mentioning they are available for use.
How to activate it
If you have a SIM or virtual SIM card USA from AT&T, you have different ways to activate the pay-as-you-go service or AT&T International Daily Pass.
You can either call 611 and activate your preferred roaming service over the phone or go to their website, choose the option you prefer, log in to your account, and activate it before traveling.
If you forget to activate the international roaming plan, as soon as you arrive in India, you’ll receive a text message to confirm that you want to use any of these services.
Roaming in India with T-Mobile
T-Mobile offers two types of international roaming services. You can choose a Plus or MAX data plan or rely on the International Pass.
For the International Roaming Pass, you can choose data plans ranging from $5 to $50 USD, including 512 MB to 15 GB, lasting from one to 30 day
To use roaming in India, you can choose Plus or Max data plans ranging from $80 to $105 USD, using unlimited data and text messages and paying $0.25 USD per minute when making a call.
On the other hand, any other T-Mobile plan has different rates. Roaming internationally with basic plans costs $15 USD per MB and $0.50 USD per text, while phone calls remain the same.
How to activate it
Depending on the service you want to use, you’ll need to call #RON# to activate the service and turn on the “Mobile/Cellular Data” option.
If you plan to add an international roaming pack, you must do so through the mobile app in the “Add-Ons” section.
Roaming in India with Verizon
Verizon is another company offering two types of international roaming plans. You can choose the daily pass or the pay-as-you-go rates.
If you purchase the Verizon TravelPass, you’ll receive unlimited data, text messages, and phone calls with a 2 GB daily limit.
If you prefer to use the pay-as-you-go rates, this is how much you’ll have to pay for international roaming:
- $2.05 USD per MB
- $1.79 USD per minute
- $0.50 USD per text message and $0.25 per multimedia received
How to activate it
There are two ways to activate an internet roaming pack from Verizon. If you are going for the TravelPass, you must activate the roaming option upon arrival. You can also do this manually by sending a text message to 4004 with “TRAVEL” to use the service.
If you prefer the pay-as-you-go rates, you’ll need to activate this service through your Verizon account on the app or website, and you’ll be all set.
Roaming in India with Vodafone
If you are using Vodafone to travel to India, you can access two different international roaming plans if you are living in the UK.
With the “Monthly roaming” option, there’s a fixed price for international roaming, which is £7.39 (~$9.84 USD). With this option, you are allowed to use your local allowance while in India.
As for pay-as-you-go international roaming packs, you’ll be charged in the following way:
- £0.60 (~$0.80 USD) per minute when making phone calls
- £0.30 (~$0.40 USD) when receiving phone calls
- £0.08 (~$0.11 USD) per text message
- £0.12 (~$0.16 USD) per MB
- £0.66 (~$0.88 USD) per multimedia message
How to activate it
You’ll need to use the “My Vodafone” app to access any international roaming packs from Vodafone. There, you have to visit the “International Roaming” menu and activate the service before arriving in the country-
Roaming in India with Three UK
Like other companies, using Three UK to stay connected means you’ll have two ways to access international roaming in India.
With the “Pay Monthly” option, you’ll have access to up to 56 Daily Roaming passes, which means you can use your data plan for free in India. After you use these, you’ll be charged £7 (~$9.32 USD) per day to unlock your call, text, and data allowance.
If you prefer the pay-as-you-go international roaming plans, this is how much Three charges:
- £3 (~$3.99 USD) per MB
- £2 (~$2.66 USD) per minute when calling the UK and using voicemail, and £1.25 (~$1.66 USD) when receiving voice calls
- £0.35 (~$0.47 USD) per sending a text message, with no charges when receiving
How to activate it
Compared to other companies, Three makes it easy and simply requires you to activate the roaming option when you arrive in the country.
Roaming in India with Rogers
Our last option is to use an international roaming service in India is Rogers, which also offers two different roaming plans.
The “Roam Like Home” service lets you access your plan’s minutes, texts, and mobile data while traveling. This option costs $15 USD per day and can be used for up to 20 days per billing cycle.
If you prefer the “Pay-per-use-rates”, these will depend on your local plan.
- Prepaid customers:
- $3.50 USD per minute
- $0.75 USD per text
- No mobile data included
- Postpaid customers:
- $3.00 USD per minute
- $0.75 USD per text
- $15.00 USD per 10 MB
How to activate it
For any of the available roaming plans, you simply need to activate the “Roaming” option on their mobiles on the “Cellular/Mobile data” menu, and your phone will be ready to use internationally.
Alternatives to roaming in India
After looking at the different international roaming services, we can tell these are very expensive.
So, let’s talk about the best international alternatives to get internet access in India.
eSIM for India
If you want to avoid data usage and international roaming fees, using an eSIM for India is the best option.
All you need is an eSIM-compatible phone. With Holafly, you’ll get unlimited mobile data for $8.90 USD daily, cheaper than international roaming prices. Also, some additional benefits include:
- Data sharing for up to 500 MBs per day
- 5G speeds with the Airtel network
- 24/7 customer support in 19 languages
- Easy activation and purchase process
How to activate it
The process for activating the Rogers roaming is quite simple. Like other cases, people need to activate the “Roaming” option located in the “Mobile/Cellular Data” menu of the device travelers are using.
Prepaid SIM card
A prepaid SIM card for India is a reliable option if you don’t have an eSIM-compatible phone. To get one, you’ll have to arrive in India and look for convenience stores or kiosks.
While prepaid SIM cards for India are a cheap alternative, these often have limited data, are easy to lose, and aren’t compatible with many last-gen phones, so keep that in mind when traveling.
Free WiFi in India
India isn’t short of free WiFi hotspots. In bigger cities, you’ll surely find a free hotspot, whether it is a restaurant, hotel, or coffee shop.
However, these networks are not always safe to use. Since everyone can connect to them, our best advice is to only use one if you need quick internet access and try not to introduce your personal or financial details while connected to one.
Also, you can use apps like WiFi Finder or WinMap to help you connect to a WiFi network, so it’s a good idea to have these on your phone.
Pocket WiFi in India
Our final option is pocket WiFi devices for India, which are great if you need to provide an internet connection to different devices.
The downside of this service is its cost. Having to pay for the device, data, and even insurance fees can make it even costlier than international roaming prices.
Pocket WiFi in India: Alternatives
Let’s talk more about the pocket WiFi alternatives found in the market to see which one is better for people to use.
- Travel WiFi: With this company, you’ll have access to three different plans: the Adventure Plan for $7.95 USD with 1 GB per day, the Escape Plan for $9.95 USD with 2 GB per day, and the Voyage Plan for $11.95 USD with 5 GB per day.
- My Webspot: My Webspot is another alternative to avoid roaming services. You’ll be charged $86.98 USD for a week of use, which is around $12.45 USD per day with 1 GB of 4G data and unlimited 512 kbps speeds.
Comparison of alternatives to roaming in India
Finally, let’s compare the different rates found in the alternatives to roaming when traveling in India.
| Features | eSIM | Roaming | Pocket WiFi |
| Price | $8.90 to $306.90 | $2.05 up to $15 per MB | +$100 per week, depending on the data plan |
| Data | Unlimited data, depending on your | Varies depending on your international roaming plan | 1GB per day |
| Free shipping | Yes | – | No |
| Added costs | No | Yes | Yes |
| Can you share the internet with other devices? | Yes, up to 500 MB daily | No | Yes |
| Fee in case of loss? | No | No | Yes |
| User friendly? | Yes | No | No |
Verdict: eSIMs as the best alternative to roaming in India
Up to this point, the Holafly eSIM for India is the best option for staying connected while traveling.
Compared to the rest of the alternatives, the eSIM is cheaper, has more benefits, and is easier to use. The only downside is the lack of phone calls, but that’s something you can solve with VoIP apps and unlimited plans.
So, for a price of $8.90 USD per day, you know which is the best international roaming plan to take.
Tips for roaming in India
Now that we have an idea of what services we can use to avoid roaming in India, and how much this service costs from the main mobile providers, here are some tips you have to consider:
- When traveling, make sure to limit how often you use the roaming service. If you always keep it on and are constantly online, on social media, or on apps that consume a lot of mobile data, it will cost you significantly more.
- Remember to keep an eye on how much mobile data you are using when traveling abroad.
- Certain devices might not work abroad. Make sure your smartphone is compatible with the network bands in the country you are visiting, and remember that an open-band device is preferable when you are on the road!
- When traveling, using WiFi is a smart idea. Saving money might be beneficial, but avoid becoming overly reliant on it, especially in India.
Everyone’s best way to stay connected in India is different, but by following these tips, you can make sure to get by with an international roaming service. But for us, the clear favorite way to get online is the Holafly eSIM for India.
