Phones in Egypt

There’s no reason you can’t stay in touch during your travels to Egypt. Unless you plan on exploring the more remote regions of the Western desert, you’ll find yourself pretty well connected throughout your trip.

If dialling abroad from Egypt make sure you use the international dialling code:

e.g. for the UK dial '0044' then drop the first '0' of the number and continue.

When calling within Egypt, different areas use certain regional codes that precede number. The area code is shown below. To dial Egypt from outside of the country you will need to use the codee '0020' (also written as' +20') followed by the area code.

Egypt Dialling Code

City	Area Code	Egypt Dialing Codes
Al Jizah	2	+20 2
Alexandria	3	+20 3
Assiut	88	+20 88
Aswan	97	+20 97
Cairo	2	+20 2
El Arish	68	+20 68
El Tor	69	+20 69
Hurghada	65	+20 65
Ismailia	64	+20 64
Luxor	95	+20 95
Port Said	66	+20 66
Qina	96	+20 96
Shibîn el Kôm	48	+20 48
Suez	62	+20 62
Zagazig	55	+20 55

The following options exist for using phones in Egypt:

Payphones in Egypt

Old fashioned as they may seem, most Egyptian resorts and cities have public payphones. Since the majority of the population seem to have a mobile phone, the payphones are largely available and queues unlikely.

Egyptian payphones are typically turquoise and yellow so easily spotted from a distance. All payphones in Egypt takes pre paid cards (and not cash), these cards are available from street side kiosks, shops and some hotels.

Public Mobile Phones

In some cities you’ll see street stalls where a number of mobile phones are laid out on a table. These entrepreneurs are actually hiring out their devices for single use. Let the store keeper know where you want to call and he’ll give you a quote per minute. Be sure to ask the price before use.

International calling is not always an option from these phones.

Using Hotel Phones

The most convenient method for using phones in Egypt is simply to reach over from your bed and pick up the receiver. Most hotels have phones in the rooms from which local and international calls are possible.

This is an expensive way to call abroad and as a rule of thumb the more costly the hotel, the more costly the phone calls. Check rates before making a call.

IIncoming calls to a hotel room are usually free.

Using a Mobile Phone in Egypt

MobilNil and Vodaphone Egypt both operate a nation wide mobile phone network.

When you arrive in the country your provider will likely welcome you to the Egypt and offer you use of one of the above and advise of applicable roaming charges.

One more cost effective option is to simply purchase a SIM card on arrival and use in your own ‘unlocked’ hand set, or even to buy a local handset with the SIM Card included. Read more about mobile phones in Egypt.

Internet Phone Calls

WiFi and broadband are ubiquitous in Egypt. Internet Cafe’s are common place, and most hotels, cafes, bars, and even McDonald’s Restaurants offer a wireless internet connection.

Therefore use of applications such a Skype, VoIp and others are increasingly making it cheaper and easier to stay in touch while travelling in Egypt.