Ivory Coast

Under preparation

Basics
Côte d'Ivoire is the official name of Ivory Coast. In this West-African country nearly everyone has at least one mobile subscription (27.4 million users in 2016), of which 99 % are pre-paid SIM's. ARTCI, is the national Telecom regulator and provides a list of towns covered with 2G, 3G and 4G signals.

The country code is +225 and the official currency is the West African CFA Franc (XOF).

There are 4 providers in Côte d'Ivoire ranked in subscribers size as following:
 * Orange
 * MTN
 * Moov, by Atlantique Télécom
 * YooMee, on LTE only and only for DATA

Following providers had licenses revoked so their SIM cards may not work anymore: Koz, GreenN, Warid, MobileCafe

Since 2011 the operators have to verify the identity of their subscribers upon activation of a SIM card; this means that you should bring your passport or any other valid ID when buying a SIM card. This rule has been made further strict in March 2017, allowing the registration to take place only in the operator's outlets. Therefore it is not recommended to buy SIM cards from street vendors anymore.

Orange
Orange is the largest company when looking at the number of users (12.4 million) and has a market share of 45.2%. They broadcast on 900 MHz and 2100 MHz with 4G Coverage around Abidjan (Coverage List 4G), and elsewhere on 3G and 2G.

Availability
SIM Cards (500 CFA) are available at their stores and authorized resellers. Upon activation the SIM card will include 500 CFA of credit and on top 500 CFA good for 50 MB of internet access. It is possible to recharge the SIM Online as well.

Consumption Bonus
For those staying in Cote d'Ivoire longer than a month or frequent visitors, Orange gives bonusses including free data based on last month's consumption. For that you can select one of the profiles by dialling #121#. From all profiles available, those mentioned here give free data. To switch to Tigre last month's consumption need to have been at least 2500 CFA. To switch to Aigle the last month's consumption needs to have been at least 8000 CFA.

Tigre (Tiger) Aigle (Eagle)
 * Between 3000 and 6999 CFA, 150 MB Data (3 days), 1000 texts, 7 minutes domestic calls
 * Between 7000 and 9999 CFA, 250 MB Data (5 days), 3000 texts, 10 minutes domestic calls
 * Between 10000 and 14999 CFA, 350 MB Data (7 days), 5000 texts, 15 minutes domestic calls
 * More than 15000 CFA, 500 MB Data (10 days), 10000 textst and 25 minutes domestic calls
 * Between 10000 and 14999 CFA, 400 MB Data (7 days), 200 texts, 20 minutes domestic calls
 * Between 15000 and 24999 CFA, 500 MB Data (10 days), 200 texts, 30 minutes domestic calls
 * Between 25000 and 39999 CFA, 1 GB Data (12 days), 300 texts, 40 minutes domestic calls
 * More than 40000 CFA, 1 GB Data (15 days), 300 texts and 50 minutes domestic calls

Data Feature Packages
Data packages can be added via #149#31* or by texting the keyword to 7878. The passes do not auto-renew.

African Roaming
Data Roaming in countries with Orange partners costs 2.16 CFA per KB. It is however possible to get a data Pass via *124*523# and choose Pass High, being the only pass with data. This pass costs 15000 CFA and gives among free minutes and text messages 30 MB of data, which is good to have some data until you found a pre-paid card in the neighboring country.

Additional Information

 * APN: orangeciweb
 * Username and password: web, web
 * Website in French:orange.ci

MTN
GSM-900 (GPRS, EDGE) 2100 MHz UMTS, HSDPA MTN is the 2nd largest operator in Cote d'Ivoire and has coverage on 4G in Abidjan, Assiny and in Bassam. 3G is however available in major population area's.

Availability
An MTN SIM card will expire 90 days after last operation (sending a text message, making a call or recharge) done.

Data Packages
Data packages can be booked via *105*2# or by surfing to moninternet.mtn.ci

Moov
Moov has been active in Côte d'Ivoire since 2006 and is the brand of Atlantique Telecom, the African branch of the Emirati group Etisalat. They are in number of subscribers the third operator broadcasting on 900 MHz for 2G, 3G with UMTS and HSPA+ on 2100 MHz and since June 2016 on 4G. 4G coverage is available in Abidjan, San Pédro Bouaflé, Bouaké, Daloa, Dimbokro, Gagnoa, Toumodi and in Yamoussoukro.

Availability
The Kit IZY is available in their outlets and authorised resellers for 500 CFA and includes 2500 CFA credit, 100 MB of Data and 200 domestic texts for 7 days. This base tariff also provides bonus credit in the first three months on topping up. To recharge, use *101*vouchercode#. The initial validity of the SIM card is 30 days for outgoing and 90 days for incoming calls. If you own an older SIM Card that is not 4G, you can swap it for free in the Moov outlets.

Data Feature Packages
There is no base rate for data, you need to purchase one of the following plans with USSD *303*3# or by texting the name of the plan to 303 to activate the data. You can receive configuration messages by dialling *303*6#.

Social Media packages

For access to Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp, Viber only following two packages are available and bookable via *303*3#
 * Pass 24h: 200 CFA for 50 MB of data for 1 day
 * Pass Semaine: 500 CFA for 150 MB of data for 7 days

IZI Connect' Packages (data packages) Additionally there is the Internet Illimité plan for 39 000 CFA granting 100 GB of data at full speed up to 150 MBps and throttled to 3 MBps after that for the rest of the month. Use USSD *303*3*1*4# to subscribe.

Additional Information

 * APN: moov
 * Username and password: web and web
 * Website in French:moov.com

YouMee
2300 MHz TD LTE. Data only. SIM 2000 CFA includes 1.5 GB of data