Monaco

Basics

Monaco is a sovereign micro- and city state and a principality located on the French Riviera. France borders the state comprising 2 km² on three sides. That’s why there is no need to buy a special SIM card for Monaco as French antennas mostly cover it too.

In Monaco 2G is on 900 and 1800 MHz, 3G on 2100 MHz and 4G/LTE started in 2013 on 800 and 2600 MHz (bands 7 and 20).

International Roaming

Be aware that Monaco is neither part of the EU, nor the EEA, but only part of a common VAT area with France and an open border with the rest of the EU, where since 2017 new international roaming rules at domestic prices have been enforced. Roaming rates on most European SIM cards are not capped or regulated in the Monaco and therefore can be much higher than within the EU.

Some providers from the EU voluntarily apply EU roaming regulations in Monaco, but most are not and apply high surcharges.

Warning: When roaming with an EU-issued SIM card, check with your provider first, or prevent your phone from roaming on Monaco Télécom by making a manual network selection and stick to French networks instead. Your phone will most likely connect with Monaco Telecom as it's the stronges provider in th city state and has roaming agreements with most providers. It's crucial that you disable international data roaming on your device what you don't need to do anymore in most of Europe today to avoid a high bill.

Monaco Télécom

Monaco Télécom is the main telecommunication and only mobile network provider with own antennas in the Principality of Monaco. The company was founded in 1997 following a decision by the government of Monaco to privatize the state-owned Office Monégasque des Téléphones.

For prepaid, it has a monopoly and charges amongst the highest rates in Europe. The starter set alone of their prepaid card will set you back €19.90 and gives only 100 KB of data. Reasonable data packages are absent.

Monaco Télécom has a roaming agreement with Orange in France and users of these networks can use each other’s networks without surcharges. So for now, it’s better to buy a French SIM card to be used in Monaco than a local one.

Like in France, having a French bank card and French bank account it's a totally different story. Then you can take advantage of competively priced forfaits (= contracts), which are available without a minimum term too, and are valid in all of France on Orange and in Monaco.

French providers in Monaco

French providers cover Monaco too. If you have a choice, Orange has the best coverage through its roaming agreement with Monaco Télécom. But SFR, Bouygues Télécom and Free mobile are other options too, because their antennas reach the principality too.

In April 2016 the governments of France and Monaco signed a spectrum coordination agreement that allows French mobile operators to deploy their own base stations in Monaco. French mobile customers have experienced patchy service when trying to connect to their networks when in the principality. French mobile operators haved signed agreements with Monaco and added new antennas in Monte Carlo.

Nevertheless they don't reach all areas of the city states yet in 3G or 4G, only 2G is mostly covered. Given the topogaphy of the area crucial spots like the harbour and the railway station are only covered by Monaco Télécom so far. That's why we add a WiFi network to this list.

Monaco WiFi

In 2017 the local government has launched, via Monaco Telecom, its new Monaco WiFi service to give residents and tourists a better connectivity in the principality.

Locations

The Monegasque operator has been deploying for several months a new fibre optic network for all 26 hotspots. The aim is to offer better coverage and more efficient flows on more than 30 public sites, including markets, parks, squares, and ports, and post offices, and the railway station. A map of all wireless hotspots can be found here.

Access

The WiFi access portal has also been redesigned. It is now in 6 languages – French, English, Italian, Spanish, Russian and Chinese – and suitable for all types of devices: smartphones, tablets and PCs.

Authentication is simplified, faster and reconnection is automatic. Finally, the portal meets the new Monaco regulations in terms of digital security. Verification is made through your Google or Facebook account or by SMS.

Pricing

Access is free for Monaco Telecom customers.

A “Discovery Pass” of two hours is also offered free for any new user. These two hours can be stopped and restarted again by logging off and on and can be sufficient for day visitors.

For a longer period, these are the only reasonable rates in the city and can be bought online by credit card:

for 1 day: 4.99 €
for 7 days: 14.99 €
for 30 days: 29.99 €