Prepaid SIM / eSIM in Kosovo: how to buy a 4G internet chip?
Roaming fees
Be careful not to get caught out using your French SIM card in Kosovo, it can cost you a fortune.
With Free Mobile, for example, it will cost you €9.7 / MB!
Plus, it can be quite confusing. Serbia is a country where internet is included with Free Mobile. And since Serbia doesn’t recognize Kosovo as an independent country, but as a region of Serbia…
Buying a 4G SIM at the airport
We didn’t arrive by plane to Pristina, but by bus from Serbia, so I have no info on buying SIM cards at the airport.
If you have any, please share them in the comments!
Buying a SIM card in town
In Kosovo, there are two mobile operators:
- IPKO
- Vala
The owner of our Airbnb recommended IPKO, we trusted him blindly.
I searched for an IPKO store on Google Maps, there are several.
Make sure to have an ID on you, it will be required (the French ID card is accepted).
As for prepaid offers, there are 4 packs available.
The 6GB and 10GB packs are valid for 30 days, I don’t know about the others.
The price doesn’t include the SIM card, sold for €2.
For my part, I chose the 6 GB offer.
There’s a contract to sign, but it’s done quickly.
The SIM card isn’t active instantly. The saleswoman told me I had to wait about 30 minutes. I tested about 45 minutes later, and it worked.
To activate the card, you need to insert it into the phone (there’s a PIN code you can find by scratching the designated area), it will be activated upon the first call.
The saleswoman told me to call the IPKO number and then hang up (049 700 700) to activate it myself.
I instantly received several texts (in Albanian or Serbian, I don’t know, anyway not in a language I master ^^).
To check your remaining balance, dial the code *110#
In the example below, you can guess I have 200 minutes of calls left, unlimited texts, and 6144 MB to use in Kosovo.
Of which 2258 are valid in “BP”: no idea what that means!
If you run out of credit or exceed the validity date, you can “top up”. I think you can do it via their app or in store. Since I’m only staying 15 days, I won’t have the chance to try it.
