Internet, Telephone and Mobile

In this post, I will try to outline the process of setting up home internet access, a landline and your mobile phone.

Mobile phone:

You need your passport to purchase a SIM card. Your phone will also need to be unlocked, so keep that in mind before you bring a locked phone to Egypt. The best place is to buy the SIM immediately after landing. You can do this after collecting your bags and before exiting the airport terminal. Bear in mind that there is a tax on all goods, so if you are charged 114 LE for 100 LE of credit, don't be alarmed.

You have the option of 4 operators. 
  1. Vodafone
  2. Etisalat
  3. Orange
  4. WE - government operated
I have found Vodafone to have the best overall network reliability (from cities to villages, VF had the strongest signal in my experience). I haven't tested WE, so can't comment on it. 

If you need a package with minutes, texts and mobile data, then you can look at the postpaid plans on offer. Flex is another alternative - details available on the Vodafone Egypt website.

If however you won't be calling or texting and prefer to use WhatsApp/ Facetime or other internet based apps for communicating, then your best option will be a pay as you go or prepaid plans. I recommend the 18pt plan where every minute or text will cost 18pt (0.18 LE). Then you would add a mobile internet bundle on top.

Typically I would buy a 7GB bundle and add 20 LE of credit to use for calls and texts if needed. You can find mobile data packages from 150MB to 40GB. Click here for more details.



Landline/ home phone:

You will most likely not need a landline for calls. Your mobile phone does the job fine. However, if you are looking to install an ADSL (internet) connection in the apartment, you will need a landline first. 

Expect to pay around 40-60 LE quarterly (every 3 months). The initial set up fees are around 100 LE. You will need your passport, a photocopy of the ID page, your rental agreement (best it it's stamped but occasionally you can get away without the stamp), a utility bill from the same address (gas/ electric) dated within the last 3 months and a photocopy of the same bill.

Take the above documents to the telephone exchange building and submit them along with an application form which you will find there. Call 111 to find out which exchange to visit. Click here if you already know which one - this is a link to the Telecom Egypt store locator with map links.

It can take from as little as 2 days to 2 weeks for the line to be installed. If there is no free space at the exchange, you will have to wait even longer. 

You can subscribe to ADSL at the same time as the landline - at the same office - if you wish. Ask them about the packages available and do make sure to ask for any special offers as they usually offer a free router to new customers along with occasional discounts (eg. 50% off for the first 3 months).

Once the landline has been installed, you can then apply for and have the ADSL sevice activated if you haven't already applied for it at the same time earlier. 



Internet:

You must first have a landline installed for internet service. Egypt exclusively uses ADSL. You won't be able to get cable or fibre connections to your apartment. 

If you already have a landline but don't know the number, ask your landlord. Alternatively, connect a phone to it and call your mobile phone. If the bills are up to date, the call will go through. Then you need a photocopy of the ID of the person who set up the line (most likely the landlord) and you take this ID along with a rental contract to the office and apply for an ADSL connection. 

There are once again many choices. TE data (WE), Vodafone, Etisalat and others. TE Data or WE is the government owned company which I found to be the most reliable. I had a stable connection of 16 Mbps. They also have the biggest market share out of all the internet providers. You can find prices on their website. 

New customers generally can get a free router, so do ask about this, along with any special offers they may have running. Once the service is up and running, they may send someone to your apartment to set up the router if you pay for that, or you can call customer services and they will guide you through the process to set it up yourself. 

All bills (ADSL, mobile, landline) can be paid via Fawry, at any store or kiosk displaying the Fawry logo.

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