Phones and Internet in Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast is with no doubt one of the most connected African countries. Find out, in this article, how to obtain a phone or Internet connection.
Nowadays, more and more Ivorian families have a land line and Internet connection. Indeed, thanks to a developed telecommunications network, these are quite widespread, especially in the major cities. So if you are moving to Ivory Coast, rest assured! You can choose from various packages offered by the different service providers. Make sure to opt for the best offer according to your needs.
Land line
The local telephony market is shared by several service providers, namely MTN, and Côte d'Ivoire Telecom, etc. Each of these service providers offer different types of packages, either with land lines or with cordless phones, with some parameters such as local and international calls.
To apply for a land line, visit the nearest branch of your favorite service provider with the following documents:
- your resident card (original and copy)
- a utility bill (either SODECI for water and CIE for electricity) issued less than three months before
- two location plans
- a RIB.
Connection fees generally amount to some 10,000 CFA francs, excluding the monthly land line rental and the consumption bill.
Internet
There are two major ways to get connected to Internet in Ivory Coast, namely ADSL and mobile Internet. ADSL mainly relies on the land line while mobile Internet used 3G and WIMAX technology.
Note that there are more Internet service providers in the country than land line providers. In fact, the Internet market is shared by the following service providers: MTN with Afnet, Vipnet, Africaonline, Alink and Côte d'Ivoire Telecom with Aviso. Connection rates range between 256 Kbps and 2 Mbps, depending on the chosen package.
As regards mobile Internet, the market is shared by mobile service providers, namely MTN, Moov and Orange. These provide USB drives and boxes, as well as Wi-fi terminals which are as small as boxes and therefore easily movable.
Prices generally vary according to the chosen technology, that is 3G or WIMAX, ranging between 15,000 CFA francs for a 3G USB key and 29,000 CFA francs for the WIMAX. The box, for its part, is more expensive, varying according to the service provider and the requested speed.
Finally, the small Wi-fi terminals will allow you to connect to the Internet anywhere from any time of supporting device: mobile phone, tablet, laptop, etc. You can recharge your account as from 200 CFA francs to 39,000 CFA francs for speeds ranging between 20 MB and 50 GB respectively.
Mobile phones
Ivory Coast's mobile telephony market is rapidly developing. To date, the three main service providers, namely Orange, Moov and MTN, offer prepaid and postpaid services including different types of packages (Internet, SMS, etc).
To subscribe, visit any branch of your preferred service provider with your resident or identity card, proof of address and your RIB in the case of the postpaid option.
Useful links:
Orange Côte d'Ivoire www.orange.ci
Côte d'Ivoire Telecom www.citelecom.ci
Aviso www.orange.ci
MTN www.mtn.ci
Moov www.moov.com
Vipnet www.vipnet.ci
