On 22-Nov-07, at 3:23 PM, Charles Haynes wrote:
In India you are required to provide proof of identity before buying a SIM, and your identity is recorded along with the SIM registration. Granted there are a myriad ways around this, but long term availability of "anonymous prepaid" is by no means a given.
I was taken aback to discover that in Malaysia you can buy a prepaid SIM card at the corner shop using cash like any other commodity. Not as much as a request to be shown id. The card starts working immediately.
For the sake of comparison: I've bought SIM cards in Malaysia, China, Thailand and Singapore and would rate them in that order for ease of activation, ranging from instant to half an hour in queue. All but Malaysia required id. (Contrast: it takes one working day in India.)
