Prepaid Data SIM Card Wiki
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Note that this article is about Guinea-Bissau, a small state located on the West coast of Africa with about 2 million inhabitants. It's not about Guinea (Conakry) or Equatorial Guinea that are easy to mix up.

1920px-Flag of Guinea-Bissau

Basics[]

In the Republic of Guinea-Bissau two mobile networks are operating:

  • Orange Bissau (by Senegal’s SONATEL)
  • MTN (by South African mobile group)

State-owned Companhia de Telecomunicacoes da Guine-Bissau (aka as Guine Telecom) used to run a 3rd network called Guinetel, but this has been discontinued due to lack of funds. They were the first in 2004 to start a mobile network. The government then liberalized the mobile phone market by awarding two additional licenses to international operators: MTN in 2003 and Orange Bissau (a subsidiary of Sonatel) in 2007.

2G is on 900 MHz and 1800 MHz, 3G is on 2100 MHz and 4G/LTE has started on 1800 MHz (B3) in the capital on both networks.

Currency shown in 'F' is the West African CFA franc (XOF). International code for Guinea-Bissau is +245.

Orange Bissau[]

300px-Orange logo

Orange Bissau has a market share of 52% and leads the market since 2013. It was the first operator to launch a 4G/LTE network in the Africa region at the end of 2015: coverage map

Availability[]

A SIM card costs 1000 F with zero balance. You can buy a SIM card outside the airport building from vendors, they will reach you right after you exit. No ID will be asked. They are also available in their stores (list).

Top-ups can also be found on the streets for 500 F, 1000 F, 5000 F, 10000 F and 25000 F. To top-up by code, enter *123<Voucher Code>#, to check balances dial #123#.

Data feature packages[]

For data you need to purchase a package that is called Pass Internet. They are available by volume and time:

Data Time Price
40 MB 24 hours 200 F
80 MB 24 hours 350 F
250 MB 3 days 650 F
750 MB 7 days 2000 F
1.5 GB 30 days 4000 F
3 GB 30 days 7500 F
5 GB 30 days 10,000 F
10 GB 30 days 15,000 F
20 GB 30 days 22,000 F
40 GB 30 days 35,000 F
75 GB 30 days 50,000 F

To activate packages, check remaining balances, bonuses and etc, just open pass.orange-bissau.com or dial #1234#

More info[]

MTN[]

MTN

MTN is the second provider with a slightly lower coverage in the country. It advertises 4G/LTE, but this is hardly found.

Availability[]

The SIM card is available in their stores (locator) for 500 F without credit. Top-ups can be bought on the streets. To check balance dial *134#.

Data feature packages[]

For data you need to purchase a package that is called Pacotes Internet Móvel:

Data Time Price
50 MB 1 hour 100 F
200 MB 1 hour 200 F
unlimited 1 hour 500 F
5 MB 24 hours 100 F
50 MB 24 hours 300 F
100 MB 24 hours 500 F
500 MB 24 hours 700 F
150 MB 7 days 1000 F
1 GB 7 days 2500 F
5 GB 30 days 10000 F
10 GB 30 days 15000 F
20 GB 30 days 25000 F

They also offer 3 night packs valid 11pm-6am:

  • for 1 night: 500 MB - 200 F
  • for 1 night: 2 GB - 500 F
  • for 7 nights: 2 GB - 800 F

For social media (Facebook and WhatsApp) these two bundles are offered:

  • for 1 day: 4 MB - 50 F
  • for 7 days: 10 MB - 100 F

For activation type *138#.

More info[]

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