Mobile phone use in Sierra Leone - A rough guide
Mobile telephone use is high in Sierra Leone especially as land lines can be unreliable, so it’s a “must bring along” item as they are a good way of staying in touch with your family and friends back home. There are currently 5 mobile phone operators in Sierra Leone: Celtel, Millicom, Africell and Comium. They offer GSM services which work on a prepaid basis. Prepaid cards can be purchased throughout the city and in some provincial towns.
In addition to prepaid, the companies offer post-paid service (contracts) but are usually only obtained by companies.
Remember:
- Make a note of your mobile's serial number (also known as the IMEI number), your mobile telephone number and the telephone number of your operator's customer services (including dialing code). Keep them with you in a safe place, separate from your mobile.
Once you have the appropriate phone, there are a couple of ways you can use your phone in Sierra Leone, getting a Local sim card (Recommended) or by International Roaming.
Using a local sim card with your phone:
Make sure that your phone is unlocked. If you have a contract line with your phone provider in your home country it may be locked which means that you cannot simply insert another sim card of a competitor. Your phone can be unlocked in Sierra Leone but it may be cheaper to have it unlocked and tested before you leave.
Insert the local sim card into your phone and you should be good to go.
You will receive a local number which you can use to call and send texts home. Please check with the operator about sending and receiving international text messages.
Sierra Leone mobile phone prefix:
+232 76 - Celtel
+232 30 - Tigo
+232 33 - Comium
+232 77 - Africell
+232 88 - Africell
The Sierra Leone International Dial Code for land lines is 00232 22
See here for full list of International Dial Codes
 International Roaming
The network service that allows you to use your home country’s mobile telephone abroad is called international roaming. Use the following tips to be well prepared.
- Normal advice is to set up international roaming before you leave. Approx 14 days in advance of your departure date, you should contact your mobile network provider to ensure your mobile phone is 'enabled' for travel abroad.
- When you use your mobile in Sierra Leone, you will be using a foreign mobile network. As a result, when receiving an incoming call, you'll be charged the international leg of the call and may have to pay extra to listen to voicemail and send text messages. Of course, people phoning you will just need to dial your usual number. Text messaging can often be the cheapest way to stay in touch. Contact your mobile phone operator for the cost of International Roaming.
- Ask your network provider what you have to dial to use international roaming. This can mean that you can't directly use numbers stored in your mobile phone book as normal. If people are phoning you, however, they just dial your usual number.
Please note: Not all foreign networks will roam in Sierra Leone. Please check with your provider in your home country about roaming in Sierra Leone and charges. |
