Know How SIM Card Works And Why You Need One

Is it even possible that people can not know about them, given the fact that everyone uses a phone? After all, you can’t use a phone without a SIM card, can you? Well, yes you can. How SIM Card works, that’s the question that pops up.

Let’s know more about SIM cards and when you do and do not need them.

When you do and do not need SIM cards?

Yes. There is a way of using phones without SIM cards, but those aren’t your regular phones. There are usually two kinds of phones available to you: GSM (Global System for Mobile) and CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access).

It’s the GSM phones that use SIM cards while CDMA phones don’t need one. Each CDMA phone is build to work on a carrier’s network.

So if you are using a GSM network phone, you need a SIM and if you are using a CDMA network phone, you don’t.

In countries like the United States and Russia, CDMA phones are mostly used. Indian consumers mostly use GSM network phones. Even internationally, GSM phones are more popular.

What is a SIM card?

Now that you know when to use a SIM card, let’s collect a bit of information about what they are.

First things first, so let’s start with its full form. SIM is an acronym for Subscriber Identity Module. SIM cards help carriers identify their users and their activity on their network.

SIM cards are absolutely crucial for your phone to connect to a wireless carrier’s cellular network. It allows you to connect to a carrier network to make calls, send texts, access the internet and much more.

A SIM card helps the carrier identify your location, the network you are connecting to and your SIM card ID.

How a SIM card works?

The process of a SIM card functioning is fairly simple. When you place the SIM card in its slot, it communicates with your carrier network. Then it tells the operator who you are and identifies whether it can operate on the network or not.

Without the SIM card, a phone is nothing more than an expensive brick. A carrier can turn off the service after which a phone won’t work even if the SIM card is in the device.

The unique identifier of a SIM card also gives the carrier control over the users who don’t pay their bills.

Phones today have dual SIM technology which is found only in higher-end devices.

With the advent of dual SIM technology, users can insert two SIM cards in one device. It comes handy for people who want to use two different numbers each for personal and professional use.

There are four main service providers in India, after a wave of mergers, acquisitions, and bankruptcies changed the market in the last few years. They all offer 4G/LTE, but not all have good coverage across the entire country. The top two for market share and network coverage are Vodafone-Idea and Airtel, and most travelers should opt for one or the other.

Note that while Vodafone and Idea merged in 2018, both brands and cell networks are still being used. The networks will ultimately be fully combined, which has happened in around a third of the country so far.

There is immense competition, and prices for calls and data in India are some of the lowest in the world. Location will determine which provider is best: Airtel is typically regarded as having the best network, but that wasn’t always the case in my testing.

Every traveler I met was using one of the networks mentioned above. We’ve used both Airtel and Idea across the north, middle, and south of the country.

You’ll likely have quite different purchasing experiences based on where you buy your SIM card, and will get very different speeds with a given network depending on where you are at the time.

Both networks offer both prepaid and postpaid options, and neither do contracts. Prepaid is best unless you have an extended stay, since postpaid plans require a three-month commitment to start with. Postpaid is slightly cheaper than prepaid, but the savings are insignificant in the real world.

Standard SIM cards are disabled after three months of inactivity, but cards for tourists expire after three months regardless. Whichever provider you go with, expect to receive several promotional texts each day, offering discounts on services you’re unlikely to care much about.

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