Flag of the Republic of Cyprus (= South)
Basics
Politically the island of Cyprus is divided into two parts. The Greek-speaking Republic of Cyprus in the south which is a member of EU and the Turkish-affiliated part in the north which calls itself KKTC or TRNC in English.
This split is reflected in the phone system as well. In the south different providers operate than in the north and there is no roaming at all between them (even if Vodafone owns a network in every part). A call from north to south is possible, but will be billed as a foreign call to another continent. The sovereign base areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia are covered by the same operators as Southern Cyprus.
For a tourist it's very easy nowadays to cross the border at Nicosia and visit the other part. But you should know that you will lose coverage soon. Furthermore, the north is not part of EU, so roaming prices are not regulated.Visiting the entire island, you may think of buying two SIM cards because of the present situation. In the south, the highest rates for data within the EU used to be charged, but now some cheaper packages appeared. Compare EU roaming options to it.
First the networks of the south are shown:
- Cyta Vodafone
- MTN
- PrimeTel
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Flag of the KKTC (= Northern Cyprus)
Then the networks in the north
- KKTC Turkcell
- KKTC Telsim (Vodafone)
which are associated with the Turkish phone system. The restrictions about registration and taxes for foreign mobile devices enforced in Turkey (see Turkey) don't apply to Northern Cyprus.
2G is on 900 and 1800 MHz, 3G on 2100 MHz, 4G/LTE has started in the Republic (South) on all three networks on 1800 MHz and is available for prepaid. More spectrum on 800 and 2600 MHz is about to follow.
The providers in Cyprus have applied the principle universal to all of their prepaid plans without major restrictions. But be aware that the other part of the island is outside the free roaming area. For specifics about the new regulation check European Union chapter and every provider below.
Cyta (by Vodafone)
Cyta for CYprus Telecommunication Authority is jointly owned by the government and Vodafone and still the biggest operator in the country giving a good coverage at the highest rates around.
4G/LTE has started in 2015 in the towns of Nicosia, Limassol, Larnaca, Paphos. It's available for prepaid users without a surcharge.
Availability
Their prepaid SIM card is called "soeasy". They sell it everywhere (in the airports, supermarkets, kiosks etc.): Store locator. Default PIN is 1234.
There are reload cards (vouchers) for 5, 10, 20 and 35 € available. A top-up of 10 € or more is valid for 365 days. You can recharge online with a non Cyprus-issued credit card, if you ask for an authorization code by email at top-up@soeasy.com.cy and use it here. Check balance by *110#.
Soeasy plan
This plan is for smartphones and talk, text and data. The starter pack is sold for 7.50 € and it contains 5 € credit and 100 domestic SMS valid for 90 days.
Default rate is still at a very high at 1.015 € per MB. So use packages. They offer either combo plans or data-only packages. The combo packs need to be activated by texting "on soeasy plus" to 8000. These two monthly combos are sold:
- for € 20: 150 dom. mins, 150 dom. SMS, 500 MB, 3 € credit
- for € 35: 300 dom. mins, 300 dom. SMS, 1 GB, 3 € credit
These data packages are sold at high prices:
| Data package | Validity | Data Volume | Price | Activation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| soeasy MI day | 1 day | 30 MB | 1.50 € | MI day |
| soeasy MI week | 1 week | 80 MB | 3.00 € | MI week |
| soeasy MI month | 1 month | 300 MB | 10.00 € | MI month |
For activation, text activation code to 8000. After you have consumed the internet pack you have purchased, it will charge you a basic rate € 0.25 per ΜΒ unless you purchase a new pack. For this reason they will inform you through SMS when your pack has been consumed. You can purchase as many mobile internet packs as you like at any moment. Consumption will take place from the pack you have purchased earlier until it is exhausted.
Soeasy Tourist SIM
For tourists Cyta sells a SIM which may not be a so good deal. It's sold for € 2 with € 1 credit. But data stays always on the default rate of 0.25 €/MB. Discounted calls to Russia and the UK are included.
Vodafone mobile Internet
VMI is their data only SIM which is sold for 14.95 € including 200 MB data.
| Validity | Data | Price |
|---|---|---|
| 15 days | 100 MB | € 5 |
| 30 days | 200 MB | € 10 |
| 60 days | 440 MB | € 20 |
| 120 days | 820 MB | € 35 |
The validity period is extended every time you top-up your account. The extension duration in days is shown in the table below. Your service will be deleted 180 days after the expiration of the credit validity period unless you top-up your account before that date.
Vodafone mobile Internet holiday pack
Their VMI holiday pack is another data SIM which can be bought for 14.95 € with 500 MB included valif for 7 days. When you top up, you get the following data:
| Validity | Data | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 2 days | 250 MB | € 5 |
| 5 days | 500 MB | € 10 |
| 12 days | 1.1 GB | € 20 |
| 20 days | 2.05 GB | € 35 |
Your service will be cancelled 90 days after the expiration of the credit validity period unless you top-up your account before that date.
EU roaming
Cyta generally implements "roam like home" principles with roaming at domestic rates in the EU without restrictions on all their prepaid offers.
More info
- APN: cytamobile
- Cytamobile-Vodafone website in English
MTN Cyprus
MTN is the second network operator in the Republic: Coverage map. It gives out data at slightly more competitive rates than Cyta.
4G/LTE started in 2015 on 1800 MHz in the towns of Nicosia, Larnaca, Paphos and Limassol: 4G coverage and is now available to prepaid users too.
Availability
SIM card is available for 7.50 € with 2 € pre-loaded airtime and 20 SMS pack or for 2 € with 1 € pre-loaded. They sell it everywhere (in the airports, supermarkets, kiosks etc.): Store locator.
Top-ups are available through vouchers or electronic recharge (on MTN Pay or JCC Smith). MTN Pay accepts only credit cards issued in Cyprus. Denominations are €5, 10, 20, 35 and 50. Top-ups of €10 or more are valid for 365 days and come with additional airtime, data and SMS bonuses. They offer a data top-up card at € 15 with 1.5 GB for 30 days of validity. This data top-up card is only available for electronic top-up.
According to the MTN Customer Care and website, top-ups with international credit cards is only available through a partner site, which however takes high commission.
Check your balance by dialing *202#.
MTN PayAsYouGo
Their voice and data plan is called MTN PayAsYouGo. Default rate for data is a high €1.02 per MB. You should buy better buy one of these bundles:
| Validity | Data (x 3) | Price | Activation Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 day | 20 MB | € 1.52 | data on day |
| 1 week | 80 MB | € 4.00 | data on week |
| 1 month | 200 MB | € 10.19 | data on month |
| 1 month | 500 MB | € 15.13 | data on month 500 |
Activation is by texting the code to 6040.
(x 3): As a promotion MTN offers "triple data". This means that all data allowances above must be taken 3 times for the same price. This promotion should end in 2016, but is obviously going on. You don't need to register for this promotion, just send code as shown above.
Mega Bundle: 1000 minutes of airtime and 1000 SMS to all MTN numbers, as well as 1 GB for € 7. Validity period is 10 days. You can activate it with sending the text ON to the number 8500. You can activate more times, and you receive the airtime, SMS and MBs again.
Holiday Prepaid Pack
For tourists they have introduced their Holiday Prepaid Pack. It's sold at €2 with €1 credit. While data is on default at the overpriced € 1.02/MB rate, you can add all 4 data packages from above to this tourist SIM. It includes reduced internatl. SMS and calls to Sweden, Norway, Russia, Germany and the UK.
The Holiday Prepaid Pack has a non-extendable validity period of 30 days upon activation. Any recharge will not extend the validity period irrespective of the recharge validity period. Upon expiration, the SIM card will become inactive and any unused monetary credit will be lost.
MTN Mobile Broadband PayAsYouGo
Their data-only plan is called MTN Mobile Broadband PayAsYouGo and is sold for € 10 with 100 MB for 30 days are included. You can add these packages for more data:
| Validity | Data | Top-up |
|---|---|---|
| 15 days | 100 MB | € 5 |
| 30 days | 200 MB | € 10 |
| 60 days | 440 MB | € 20 |
| 120 days | 820 MB | € 35 |
| 180 days | 1140 MB | € 50 |
Upon the expiration of the validity period of the top-up card, the MTN Mobile Broadband PayAsYouGo service will become inactive but the remaining balance of your account will NOT be lost. If you renew your account within 180 days from the day the service becomes inactive, then your new available balance will be the sum of the two (new top-up data volume + remaining balance). If you do not renew your account within the 180 then your account will be deleted and you will no longer be able to use your SIM card. You can't call from this SIM, it provides only data and SMS sending (can't receive). More info: here (PDF).
MTN Holiday Internet
For tourists MTN gives out their new Holiday Internet. It's sold at € 20 containing 2 GB valid for 15 days. Same packages as for MTN Mobile Broadband PayAsYouGo can be added and same rules apply.
EU roaming
MTN has generally implemented "roam like home" principles with roaming at domestic rates in the EU without restrictions on all their prepaid offers.
More info
- APN: internet
- MTN website in English
PrimeTel
PrimeTel PLC is a multiservice provider with various fixed broadband and mobile services. It is very popular for ADSL, TV and landline phone service in the South. It's the first MVNO in the Republic of Cyprus too. It started in 2011 using the Cytamobile network. In 2014 they have been granted a license to build own physical network on 3G and 4G/LTE. It has already covered 60% of territory by its own 4G/LTE and 99% on its own 3G since 2015, making Cyta no more needed, but roaming with Cyta is still operational for 2G (GSM/GPRS/EDGE) modes. 4G/LTE is open for prepaid costumers without surcharge.
It offers the lowest prices in the South right now.
Availabilty
Their starter packs are available at the airports, supermarkets, some kiosks, mobile phone shops and their own stores (shops list):
- for 5 € with 3 € credit anlable for 5, 10, 20, 35 and 50 €. Bonuses include data on recharges of 10 € and more. Recharge amount x 10 in MB are granted and valid for 30 days. You can recharge online using any international Visa/MasterCard credit card on their website.
USSD codes
- to check your account balance, dial *133#
- to check how much Internet left, dial *138*2#
- to check Super Bundle status and how much left, dial *138*3#
- to check Bonus Balance, dial *138# or *139#
- to display your mobile number, dial *133*12321#
- to change the language, dial *135*2# for English
Super Bundle Pack ("Ninja")
This is probably the best offer for a short stay in Cyprus (South): you get 1.5 GB, 1000 minutes of calling to Primetel and 1000 SMS to Primetel network for 10 days at 8 €. To get this package, send SMS with text ON8 to 8133.
Regular Pay As You Go rates
For prepaid subscribers, default charge and overuse rate for mobile internet is € 0.25 per MB charged per KB. These packages are offered:
| Data Volume | Value | Validity | Activation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60 ΜB | € 1.50 | 1 day | MB1 |
| 240 MB | € 5.00 | 7 days | MB7 |
| 600 ΜΒ | € 10.00 | 30 days | MB30 |
| 1.5 GB | € 15.00 | 30 days | MB30 500 |
For activation text code to 8133.
Travel Internet Pack
It is the special data-only SIM card made for tourists. Similar to MTN, they sell the SIM card at € 20 with 2 GB pre-loaded valid for 20 days. To buy more data, you can add one of these packages:
| Data Volume | Validity | Price |
|---|---|---|
| 250 MB | 2 days | € 5 |
| 500 MB | 7 days | € 10 |
| 2 GB | 14 days | € 20 |
| 3.5 GB | 20 days | € 35 |
| 5 GB | 30 days | € 50 |
Purchase of these packages is online through your account. 4G/LTE is supported. A triple size SIM (nano, micro, mini) is given out. Note that it supports only data, neither voice calls nor SMS service.
Check the detailed users guide in English from the official website. After the expiration of the initial data, you can purchase more data for a period of 90 days. After the 90 days of service the SIM card becomes inactive regardless of your loaded credit.
EU roaming
Primetel has generally implemented "roam like home" principles with roaming at domestic rates in the EU without restrictions on all their prepaid offers.
More info
- Tethering is allowed, speed is not limited, but Fair Use Policies are active: using torrents or other P2P applications is limited by speed throttling.
- APN: ip.primetel
- Website in English: http://primetel.com.cy/en/
SOUTHERN PART (Republic of Cyprus, Greek) above
NORTHERN PART (KKTC, Turkish) below
Basic information
The Turkish-controlled Northern part of Cyprus (called KKTC or in English Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, short TRNC) is connected to the Turkish phone network, sharing the same country code with Turkey (+90). The prefix for KKTC Turkcell is +90 533 and for KKTC Telsim +90 542. Dialing from North to South is possible, but it is billed as an international long-distance call.
KKTC Turkcell
KKTC Turkcell is the North Cyprus branch of the leading Turkish network provider Turkcell. Like with Vodafone you can use data in KKTC and Turkey without surcharges.
The rates are charged in "Kontör" = units. 1 unit is 0.065 TL.
Availability
The SIM card is sold in all Turkcell shops (store locator) for 15 TL with 100 units (worth 6.5 TL) of credit.
Data feature packs
Default data rate is 11 units (0.715 TL) per 100 KB. The following packets can be booked:
- 100 MB for 1 day, 77 units = 5 TL, activation: GUNLUK
- 1 GB for 7 days: 152 units = 9.88 TL, activation: HAFTALIK1
- 500 MB for 30 days, 340 units = 22.10 TL, activation: 500
- 1 GB for 30 days, 500 units = 32.50 TL, activation: 1
- 2 GB for 30 days, 680 units = 44.20 TL, activation: 2
- 4 GB for 30 days, 1000 units = 65 TL, activation: 4
- 10 GB for 30 days, 1155 units = 75 TL, activation: 10
- 15 GB for 30 days, 1308 units = 85 TL, activation: 15
For activation text code to 1111. Wait until the package is confirmed by text message. To deactivate text "IPTAL" to 1111.
More info
- APN: cepten.kktcell /or/ internet.kktcell
- Website in English: https://www.kktcell.com/en
Telsim Vodafone (KKTC Telsim)
Telsim Vodafone, aka KKTC Telsim is the main competitor of KKTC Turkcell and a branch of Vodafone Turkey, but is not allowed to be called Vodafone for legal reasons as Vodafone has an own network in the south too. Their data packages are valid on Vodafone in Turkey too, but not on the Vodafone network in the south of the island.
Like its competitor, the rates are charged in units: 1 unit is 0.065 TL. SIM cards are available in Telsim Shops (list ) or in Telsim Silver Shops (list).
Availability
They sell a SIM called Tourist package for 25 TL containing 50 international minutes, 500 text messages and 500 MB internet valid for 7 days only.
The standard SIM is for 10 TL with no credit. Default data rate is 0.12 unit per KB.
Data feature packs
They have one daily package of 1 GB at 10 TL that is sold as scratch card called Günlük Internet Paket. It's valid for 24 hours and you have to text the 'GUNLUK' <6-digit code from the card> to 8484. Check your balace by texting 'KALAN' ro 8484.
The following monthly data bundles are available and can be booked on tourist and standard SIMs:
- 250 MB, 246 units = 16 TL
- 500 MB, 338 units = 12 TL
- 1 GB, 492 units = 32 TL
- 3 GB, 769 units = 50 TL
- 5 GB, 1000 units = 65 TL
- 10 GB, 1138 units = 74 TL
- 15 GB, 1292 units = 84 TL
Packages must be booked calling customer service on 548 (call for 8 units), in Telsim Shops or online on your account. All data packages are valid without roaming surcharges on the Vodafone network in Turkey too. To check consumption, text 'DURUM' to 2121 for free.
More info
- APN: internet
- more info online in Turkish only: www.kktctelsim.com