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In my limited experience, my Indian coworkers had 2 SIMs minimum. Some had 3 or 4 but one would likely be a promotional “free” one. This was in Delhi and they

by wil421 7y ago

In my limited experience, my Indian coworkers had 2 SIMs minimum. Some had 3 or 4 but one would likely be a promotional “free” one. This was in Delhi and they said the providers could be very flakey. A back up was necessary. Some people also used their phone and it’s hotspot as the main source of internet. Are having multiple SIMs common in India? Or was I just working with Software Engineers?

harias 7y ago
Almost all mobile phones come with dual-sim support. Some with the second sim tray being utilized as an External memory card slot/Sim card slot. This is pretty common all over SE Asia.
- wil421 7y ago
  I’m asking about the need for 2-3 SIMs, not the capability. They’ve had them on phones for a while and it should become obsolete with eSIMs. The new iPhone features a physical SIM and an eSIM.
  - djpr 7y ago
    In this case, the capability is caused by a need. As the other person said, it's about optimizing between different special offers & discounts given by different mobile operators. Source: Indonesian with family that needs two-sim cards phones.
sumedh 7y ago
> Are having multiple SIMs common in India? Back in the day when India did not have number portability, one sim used to be the primary number and the other sim was mostly used for data which could be frequently changed based on the data plans available.
signal11 7y ago
Multiple SIMs are indeed common but I believe the drivers that caused people to have two SIMs will go down with time. Unlike some other countries, India's mobile rates are very competitive (cheapest in the world, in fact) so there's little reason to shop around, so cost isn't a driver for multiple SIMs. I was told of two primary reasons: One, India's telco regulator has "circles" which are basically zones in the country (some circles are essentially a state, but some of the smaller states may combine to form a circle). In-circle calling is at local rates. Out-of-circle calls had STD (long distance) rates applied. So you might have a 2nd SIM if you travel out of circle frequently. Reliace Jio and Airtel ("the big two") have national licenses now, and I believe their users don't pay long-distance charges at all. So this driver to have two SIMs is disappearing. The 2nd reason was -- different networks had coverage blackspots in different areas, and having two SIMs was an avoidance measure. Jio and Airtel, while not perfect, have fairly good 4G infrastructure and blackspots have significantly reduced. Irrespective of the reason, the economic rationale for multiple SIMs was that a "pay as you go" SIM was very cheap to keep active. You paid a dollar or so and it was active for a long time -- 6 months or so (Jio never did this). With margins squeezed by Jio, other operators are feeling less charitable and want regular monthly payments or conversion to a plan to keep the SIM alive. The minimum payments are still ridiculously small especially in dollar terms, but they will pinch the less well off (given India's nominal average monthly income is about $140, there are a lot of people in this category). I suspect eventually most people won't bother if they're happy with their service. There are other reasons (a lack of trust in the number portability process, India's lack of privacy legislation which means your number is up for grabs for spam calls and texts ignoring the regulator's Do Not Disturb guidelines) but until recently it was almost cost-free to have multiple SIMs. That'll change soon, I suspect.

by wil421 7y ago

harias 7y ago

Almost all mobile phones come with dual-sim support. Some with the second sim tray being utilized as an External memory card slot/Sim card slot. This is pretty common all over SE Asia.

wil421 7y ago
I’m asking about the need for 2-3 SIMs, not the capability. They’ve had them on phones for a while and it should become obsolete with eSIMs. The new iPhone features a physical SIM and an eSIM.
- djpr 7y ago
  In this case, the capability is caused by a need. As the other person said, it's about optimizing between different special offers & discounts given by different mobile operators. Source: Indonesian with family that needs two-sim cards phones.

sumedh 7y ago

> Are having multiple SIMs common in India? Back in the day when India did not have number portability, one sim used to be the primary number and the other sim was mostly used for data which could be frequently changed based on the data plans available.

signal11 7y ago

Multiple SIMs are indeed common but I believe the drivers that caused people to have two SIMs will go down with time. Unlike some other countries, India's mobile rates are very competitive (cheapest in the world, in fact) so there's little reason to shop around, so cost isn't a driver for multiple SIMs. I was told of two primary reasons: One, India's telco regulator has "circles" which are basically zones in the country (some circles are essentially a state, but some of the smaller states may combine to form a circle). In-circle calling is at local rates. Out-of-circle calls had STD (long distance) rates applied. So you might have a 2nd SIM if you travel out of circle frequently. Reliace Jio and Airtel ("the big two") have national licenses now, and I believe their users don't pay long-distance charges at all. So this driver to have two SIMs is disappearing. The 2nd reason was -- different networks had coverage blackspots in different areas, and having two SIMs was an avoidance measure. Jio and Airtel, while not perfect, have fairly good 4G infrastructure and blackspots have significantly reduced. Irrespective of the reason, the economic rationale for multiple SIMs was that a "pay as you go" SIM was very cheap to keep active. You paid a dollar or so and it was active for a long time -- 6 months or so (Jio never did this). With margins squeezed by Jio, other operators are feeling less charitable and want regular monthly payments or conversion to a plan to keep the SIM alive. The minimum payments are still ridiculously small especially in dollar terms, but they will pinch the less well off (given India's nominal average monthly income is about $140, there are a lot of people in this category). I suspect eventually most people won't bother if they're happy with their service. There are other reasons (a lack of trust in the number portability process, India's lack of privacy legislation which means your number is up for grabs for spam calls and texts ignoring the regulator's Do Not Disturb guidelines) but until recently it was almost cost-free to have multiple SIMs. That'll change soon, I suspect.