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Prepaid
mobile phone in Tunisia
In Tunisia, there are two types of mobile telephony
offers, "postpaid" (contract, invoice at end of
month), and "prepaid" (charge as you go).
The rates do not differ significantly from each other, only
the
possible options (billing, multiple SIM cards, etc.). The
postpaid offers, however, are almost exclusively reserved
for companies. Therefore, on this page, only the prepaid version will
be discussed.
Tunisia Mobile Phone SIM Cards
It is even for foreigners (non-resident in Tunisia) easy to obtain one
of the SIM cards of the two mobile service providers in Tunisia (2010
there will be a third one). All what is needed, is a passport.
The passport will then be copied and the prepaid-contract issued within
a few minutes.
A SIM card costs currently 5 TND - in many cases, the card is sold as
well as part of a "starter package" which includes some free airtime
and/or short messages (SMs). Such a package costs around 20
TND. In
large airports, both providers operate their
own agencies - so a traveler can buy a card even right on
entering the country; if not, SIM cards are sold in shops at almost
each street corner.
Tunisian SIM cards work in most other countries as well when their
"roaming" mode is switched on. However, using a tunisian card in
roaming mode for calling or being called is as expensive as using any
other card in another country and is therefore not recommended at all.
But nevertheless, there reasons why it makes sense to
operate a tunisian
card in another country:
- First, of course, a potential tunisian
caller will have to know only your tunisian number, there is no need to
supply a foreign number to them.
- Secondly, the costs of a SM (short message) from a tunisian number to
another tunsiain number, even when this number is roaming abroad, only
costs 0.050 TND (about 3 cents EUR/UK, 4 cents US) - so,
people sending a SM to
you from Tunisia can do so at the local tunisian rate instead of paying
the international rate, which is 3 times as high. But even more: the
internet portal MaTunisiana
allows each owner of a TUNISIANA SIM card to send short messages
online, which are always charged at tunisian rates - in other words,
you can send SMs to tunisian mobile phones at the local tunisian rates,
even when you are not in Tunisia (and it is convenient too, since you
can use the computer keyboard to write the messages - even using arabic
letters!).
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And finally, when you receive a call, even when you do not pick it up,
you will see who was calling you
(caller number identification is always turned on in Tunisia) and can
then decide to call back using a convenient option (eg. VoIP, calling
card,etc.).
This also works when your tunisian SIM card is not continuously
inserted into the phone, because for a period of at least 24 hours,
"missed calls" will be announced to you by an SM alert from
the tunisian network.
Recharge cards
Recharge cards are used to refill (top up) your calling credit. They
are
available everywhere in Tunisia usually advertised as "Cartes
GSM" or
"GSM Recharge". They are little credit-card type plastic cards. You
have to rub off a number printed on this card and simply type the
number into your telephone to put the credit on your card account.
Recharge cards are
available as 2 (3), 5, 10, 25 (30), and 50 TND cards. In addition, you
have to add the selling tax, which is 0.300 TND for each 5
TND. Increasingly, it is also possible
to recharge your card account electronically in the shops without
buying a recharge card. In this case, you tell your telephone
number and the requested amount will be put by the shop immediately on
your card account.
In Tunisia, it is also possible to transfer money amounts directly from
card account to card account, like a sort of micropayment.
This can only be done within the same network, though
(eg. Tunisiana to Tunisiana and
Tunisie Telecom to Tunisie Telecom) and with small amounts
of 500 Millimes to 10 Dinars.
If a card account is depleted, the card can still be used for a small
number of "call requests" (a SM will be sent with the
text "please call me").
For Tunisian SIM cards, you usually cannot buy any recharge when you
are not in Tunisia -
there are only the possibilities of byuing some recharge cards when you
are in TUnisia and take them home - or
to have a friend there who transfers some money on your card account as
described above.
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