The first thing we need when we land in the US is a sim card. That will probably be the first purchase for most travelers. We will be always looking to get cheap cell phone plans with free India calling since we want to keep in touch with our loved ones.
Generally, the friends who are supporting you in the first few weeks. Will be the ones who are staying in the United States for a long time.
So the first thing they will suggest/do is, Take you to a T-mobile, AT&T, or Verizon store.
All these Telecom providers are the main telecom carriers in the USA. They cost between 40 to $80 for 1 line of service without any international calling.
Since these telecom provider stores are available very close to where you stay, you might end up buying 1 of these. Which is what I also did. I bought a Tmobile SIM card, which cost $40 for unlimited USA calls, text, and data. Extra $15 for international calling. Which totaled $55. Which felt very expensive considering we just pay 400 rs in India for a monthly phone service this is 10 X the price of ~4000 Rs.
So instead before you come to the US buy an MVNO SIM card on an ultra-mobile or Lyca mobile, H20 which runs on a T-mobile network.
These networks are called MVNOs( Mobile virtual network operators) these work on main telecom carriers.
The data limit will be pretty less, like 1 to 4 GB, but they come with unlimited US calling texting and International calling to India and other countries.
They cost between 10 to $30. If you’re buying a three-month service they might give that for the cost of two months. Which might be $50 for three months.
Once you get used to the US. After you have a Friends circle. You can choose to go for a family plan. Where you get unlimited data. But they still won’t be having free India calling. Only some grandfathered plans will have India calling activated, but they won’t be able to add more lines on the ac.
Also in the US having Home Internet is a mandate, wherein we use Comcast, Verizon, or T-mobile wifi service.
When you use Comcast for your home Internet they will also give access to their public Wi-Fi hotspot network. Which you can access using your Comcast credentials.
Even with Limited data on the phone, you can still manage because, in most of places, there will be Xfinity Wi-Fi hotspots to which you can connect using your Comcast credentials.
I meant to say there is no need to Go for the main telecom carrier unless you are mostly traveling the countryside (national parks etc) where the network of MVNOs Will be pretty Limited.
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This was a long(6 years) pending post, once I purchased the webspace, thought to publish it.
Some travelers might have already purchased international SIM cards in India when they went to pick up their passports paying close to 3000.
Few might enable International roaming on their Indian mobile sim cards.
Others might have already been aware of these MVNOs from their friends & might purchase these in India & come fully prepared, If you are one of them, Please let a comment below.
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