Talk:Iran/@comment-107.167.104.40-20181122102508

Since October 2017 Iran has implemented a registration scheme for all cellphones used in the country. This does not apply to users roaming with a foreign sim card. Once you turn on your phone with Iranian sim, you will get a message in Farsi saying that the phone is not registered. From this day you have 30 days to use the phone, after which it will be blocked from further usage in Iran. So for most visitors this shouldn't be a problem, since they stay less than 30 days. For those traveling to Iran on a more regular basis, you have several options. Upon arrival to IKA you can pay a fee of 18% of the phone's value and get it registered. There is an app and a website (https://hamta.ntsw.ir) as well, but they are in Farsi only. If you only care about data, a cheaper option is to obtain a mifi device locally from Irancell. Alternatively buy a cheap local device that you can use as hotspot and for calls.

As a last note, if you prefer to use a foreign sim, the only reliable option with affordable data seems to be mtxc.eu. This wiki has more information on them. Obviously it's still more expensive than a local sim and they use the Rightel network with inferior coverage compared to Irancell and Hamrae aval, but you will have a working connection straight from landing.