SIM cards and the passport that has to be physical
Three operators, a SIM that must be registered against your passport in person, and an Ooredoo tourist pack you reserve before you fly and collect at Tunis or Djerba airport.
The operators
- Ooredoo, Orange Tunisie and Tunisie Telecom are the three networks. All three sell prepaid.
- Coverage on the coast and in the tourist belt is good. The interior and the south thin out, as they do everywhere in North Africa.
Registration is in person, with the passport itself
- A Tunisian SIM is registered to a named holder against identity documents. That is a legal requirement, not a shop policy, and it is why a SIM cannot simply be handed over.
- Ooredoo's Holiday SIM is pre-ordered online, and you choose the collection shop in advance: Tunis airport or Djerba airport.
- After the confirmation email you send back a copy of your passport by email, and on arrival you present the passport itself at that shop for identification and to sign the contract.
- Which means the reservation does not save you the queue. It saves you the paperwork at the counter.
The practical answer
- Reserve before you fly if you are landing at Tunis or Djerba, and buy at the counter otherwise.
- A roaming eSIM covers the gap between landing and finding a shop, which matters most on a late arrival when the shops are shut.
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