Before visiting the Bulgaria, you have to know the different prepaid phone plan providers in the country, especially if you are going to just stay temporarily and use your prepaid mobile phone there.
Currently, there are three 3G and GSM prepaid phone operators in Bulgaria, namely: MobilTEL AD, Cosmo Bulgaria Mobile EAD (GloBul), BTC Mobile EOOD (Vivacom) and one other prepaid phone brand called Frog Mobile (GloBul). The mobile prefix for Bulgaria is +359. Their currency, 1 Bulgarian Lev = 0.51295 Euro. The electricity available in Bulgaria is 230 Volts with an electrical frequency of 50 Hertz. Time Zone is GMT +2.
GSM and 3G Prepaid Phone Operators in Bulgaria
The first prepaid phone operator in Bulgaria is MobilTEL AD. The company was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Sofia, Bulgaria. MobilTEL was launched commercially in September 1995. The mobile communications company offers a wide range of products and services such as mobile (post paid and prepaid phone plans) and fixed telephony, digital television and Internet services in EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA and HSPA+ networks. They are considered the first and largest mobile phone operator to operate in Bulgaria with more than five million active subscribers and 51.1% of the population of Bulgaria.
The prepaid phone card name for MobilTEL is called “Prima.” The activation fee for this prepaid phone card is BGN 14.88 with 10.00 free credits. Prima prepaid phone cards are valid for 11 months upon activation with a one-month grace period. The net frequency for MobilTEL are GSM 900/1800 and W-CDMA 2100. The logo for this prepaid phone card is M-TEL GSM BG with a net code of 284 01. There are three voice tariffs under Prima, namely: Prima Star, Prima Classic and Prima Party.
- Prima Star offers: calls to MobilTEL for BGN 0.34 and all other calls for BGN 0.59. Users can move to Prima Star plan dialing 1111 and following instructions. Once the user moves to Prima Star they cannot get back to the old plan. Prima Star users cannot use the Friends & Family option.
- Prima Classic offers: calls to Friends & Family for BGN 0.23 and all other calls for BGN 0.54.
- Prima Party offers: calls to Family and Friends (Monday to Sunday 9AM – 9PM) for BGN 0.47, calls to Family and Friends (Monday to Sunday 9PM – 9AM) for BGN 0.23, calls to M-Tel (Monday to Sunday 9AM – 9PM) for BGN 0.83, calls to M-Tel (Monday to Sunday 9PM – 9AM) for BGN 0.35, other calls (Monday to Sunday 9AM – 9PM) for BGN 0.83 and other calls (Monday to Sunday 9PM – 9AM) for BGN 0.59.
**Family & Friends - All M-Tel prepaid customers can choose 5 favourite M-Tel numbers to call at a cheaper tariff; The first selection is free of charge, then it costs BGL 0.50 for each number.
**All rates include 20% VAT.
Additional Services and Costs:
Messaging:
- Prima Star - SMS for BGN 0.22
- Other plans - On-net SMS for BGN 0.18 and Happy Hour 11PM to 12AM for BGL 0.09; Off-net SMS for BGN 0.25 and Happy Hour 11PM to 12AM for BGL 0.12
- All plans - MMS to Mtel for BGN 0.78
- Other national and International MMS – BGN 0.90
Data Calls:
- WAP and Internet CSD – BGN 0.05/min
- Wap GPRS - 0<100KB for BGL 0.03/KB; 100<250KB for 0.02/KB; >250 KB for BGN 0.01/KB
- Internet GPRS – BGN 0.25/100KB (20KB increments)
Prepaid Data Bundles:
- Free Surf 25 MB – BGN 9.90
- Free Surf 350 MB – BGN 18.90
- Free Surf 1 GB – BGN 29.90
- For more information, see here
Video Calls:
- To Mtel – BGN 0.69/min
- To Other National Operators – BGN 0.89/min
Voicemail: Same rate as voice calls to M-Tel
International Calls:
- Zone 1 (Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Turkey) – BGN 2.88
- Zone 2 (Austria, Azores, Albania, Andorra, Balearic Islands, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Canaries, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faeroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Great Britain, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madeira, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, Vatican) – BGN 3.60
- Rest of the World – BGN 5.76
International Roaming: International roaming service available, see here
Debiting Method:
- Prima Star – 60/1
- Other Plans – 30/1
Refills, Credit and Validity:
- BGN 15/15/11 months plus 1 month grace period
- BGN 30/30/11 months plus 1 month grace period
- BGN 60/60/11 months plus 1 month grace period
- BGN 90/90/11 months plus 1 month grace period
- BGN 120/120/11 months plus 1 month grace period
The second prepaid phone operator in Bulgaria is Cosmo Bulgaria Mobile EAD or more commonly known as GloBul. The mobile communications company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Sofia, Bulgaria. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Greek telecommunications corporation “Cosmote” that operates in four Balkan countries: Albania, Greece, Bulgaria and Romania. They are considered the second largest telecommunications company to operate in Bulgaria. They offer mobile (in both post paid and prepaid phone plans) services, fixed line telephony and Internet services in GSM network which covers 99.98% of Bulgaria’s population, 3G UMTS that covers 88% and 3G HSDPA. As of 2011, GloBul has over 3.9 million active subscribers.
The prepaid phone card name for GloBul is called “b-connect.” The activation fee for this prepaid phone card is BGN 9.00 with 10.00 free credits or BGN 14.00 with 15.00 free credits. B-connect prepaid phone cards are valid for 12 months upon activation plus 1 month grace period. The net frequency for Globul is GSM 900/1800. The logos for this prepaid phone card are BG 05 and BG GLOBUL with a net code of 284 05. There are four voice tariffs under b-connect, namely: b-connect, b-connect, b-connect SMS and b-connect Friend 100 / 310.
- b-connect offers: calls to 3 Globul numbers for BGN 0.228 and all other calls for BGN 0.444
- b-connect Hit offers: calls to Globul plus land line for BGN 0.348 and all other calls for BGN 0.468
- b-connect SMS offers: all calls for BGN 0.564
- b-connect Friend 100 / 310 offers: calls to Globul plus land line for BGN 0.348 and all other calls for BGN 0.468. With this offer users can activate a “favorite number” option by: Friend 100 with a monthly cost of BGN 2.00 (€ 1.03) you can call a favourite number for 100 minutes plus 100 free SMS to the same number; after the 100 minutes users will pay BGN 0.09/min. Or Friend 310 with a monthly cost of BGN 3.00 (€ 1.03) you can call a favourite number for 310 minutes plus 310 free SMS to the same number; after the 310 minutes users will pay BGN 0.09/min.
SMS rates for b-connect
- From 0 to 50 (number of SMS per month) - BGN 0.13
- From 51 to 100 (number of SMS per month) - BGN 0.12
- From 101 to 200 (number of SMS per month) - BGN 0.11
- Over 200 (number of SMS per month) - BGN 0.10
Additional Costs and Services:
Messaging:
- National and International SMS – BGN 0.216
- MMS to Globul – BGN 0.24
- Other national MMS – BGN 0.54
- International MMS – BGN 0.90
Voicemail: BGN 0.24/min
Customer Care: BGN 0.10/min
Data Calls:
- Internet Wap CSD – BGN 0.06/min
- Internet, Wap GPRS – BGN 2.40/MB
International Calls:
- Zone 1 (USA, Canada, Russia – fixed and mobile networks. Fixed networks – Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Greet Britain, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Monaco, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey) - BGN 1.19
- Zone 2 (Albania, Algiers, Andorra, Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Georgia, Gibraltar, Iceland, Latvia, Libya, Malta, Moldova, Morocco, Palestine, San Marino, Tunisia, Ukraine. Mobile networks – Europe) - BGN 1.74
- Rest of the World - BGN 2.21
International Roaming: International roaming service available, see here
Debiting Method:
- b-connect and b-connect SMS – 30/1
- b-connect Hit – 60/1
Refills, Credit and Validity:
- BGN 15/15/12 months plus 1 month grace period
- BGN 25/25/12 months plus 1 month grace period
- BGN 40/45/12 months plus 1 month grace period
The third prepaid phone operator in Bulgaria is BTC Mobile EOOD or also called Vivacom. The telecommunications company was established in 1992 and is headquartered in Sofia, Bulgaria. They were previously known as Bulgarian Telecommunications Company or BTC. Their services includes: fixed line telephony, mobile (post paid and prepaid phone plans) as Vivatel and Internet services in GSM, ADSL, 2G and 3G networks. BTC Vivacom is also the largest Internet service provider in Bulgaria with 100,000 active customers.
The prepaid phone card name for BTC Vivacom is called “Prepaid.” The activation fee for this prepaid phone card is BGN 7.00 with 7.00 free credits for Opa cards, BGN 7.00 with 5.00 free credits for Aide cards, BGN 10.00 with 10.00 free credits for One Two cards and BGN 15.00 with 15.00 free credits divided in 2 sim cards with BGN 7.50 each for SIMpatia cards. Prepaid phone cards are valid for 11 months after its activation. The net frequency for BTC Vivacom are GSM 900/1800 and WCDMA 2100. The logos for this prepaid phone card are Vivacom and Vivatel with 284 03 as its net code. There are four voice tariffs under Prepaid, namely: Opa, One two, Aide and SIMpatia.
- Opa offers: all calls for BGN 0.34 and national SMS for BGN 0.12
- One two offers: calls to Vivacom (less than 2 mins and other calls) for BGN 0.44, calls to Vivacom (more than 2 mins) for BGN 0.01 and national SMS for BGN 0.12
- Aide offers: calls to Vivacom and land line for BGN 0.16, other calls for BGN 0.36, SMS to Vivacom for BGN 0.12 and other national SMS for BGN 0.19
- SIMpatia offers: calls to SIMpatia number for BGN 0.06, all other calls for BGN 0.44, SMS to SIMpatia number for BGN 0.06 and other national SMS for BGN 0.19. It is a special prepaid phone card for “lovers” which can be bought with a special starting kit at BGN 15 including 2 sim cards with BGN 7.50 each. It has a special tariff between the 2 sim cards and the normal standard tariff for all other calls. Also SMS to all Vivacom numbers are at a cheaper rate BGN 0.06.
Additional Services and Costs:
Messaging:
- National SMS: see above
- International SMS: BGL 0.30 – € 0.15
- MMS – BGL 0.60
Data Calls:
- Wap/web CSD – BGN 0.11/min
- Wap/web GPRS/EDGE – BGN 1.80/MB
Voicemail: Free of charge
International Calls: International prepaid phone calls available, see here
International Roaming: International roaming service available, see here
Debiting Method:
- National and International calls – 30/1
- International Roaming – 60/60
Refills, Credit and Validity:
- BGL 10.00/10.00/11 months plus 1 month grace period
- BGL 20.00/20.00/11 months plus 1 month grace period
- BGL 50.00/50.00/11 months plus 1 month grace period
**How to Activate - To activate the Vivacom prepaid kit, put the sim into your mobile and dial the number 123, then follow the instructions.
**Credit Check - call 123, press 2 and listen to the IVR; or dial *123# to receive an SMS with the available credit.
Other Prepaid Phone Brands in Bulgaria
The only other prepaid phone brand available in Bulgaria is Frog Mobile (GloBul). It is a prepaid mobile service that is offered in Bulgaria, Greece and Romania by Cosmote. The prepaid phone card name for Frog Mobile is called “Frog Mobile.” The activation fee for this prepaid phone card is BGN 7.78 with 5.00 free credits. Frog Mobile prepaid phone cards are valid for 12 months upon its activation plus 1 month grace period. The net frequency for Frog Mobile is MVNO (GSM 900/1800). The logo for this prepaid phone card is Frog Mobile with a net code of 284 05. Frog Mobile is under the network Globul.
**Forg Mobile offers: calls to Frog Mobile for BGN 0.09 and other calls for BGN 0.34.
**All rates include 20% VAT
Additional Costs and Services:
Messaging:
- SMS to Frog – BGN 0.09
- National and International SMS – BGN 0.14
- MMS to Frog – BGN 0.09
- MMS to Globul – BGN 0.24
- Other national MMS – BGN 0.54
- International MMS – BGN 0.90
Video Calls:
- To Frog – BGN 0.34/min
- To others – BGN 0.59/min
Voicemail: BGN 0.24/min
Data Calls:
- Wap CSD – BGN 0.06/min
- Wap GPRS/3G – BGN 2.40/MB
International Calls:
- Balkans Fix (Fixed networks: Albania, Greece, FYROM (Macedonia), Romania, Serbia, Turkey) - BGN 0.34
- Zone 1 (USA, Canada, Russia – fixed and mobile networks. Fixed networks – Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland) - BGN 1.19
- Zone 2 (Fixed networks – Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Georgia, Gibraltar, Iceland, Latvia, Libya, Malta, Moldova, Morocco, Palestine, San Marino, Tunisia, Ukraine. Mobile networks – Europe) - BGN 1.74
- Rest of the World - BGN 2.21
International Roaming: International roaming service available, see here
Debiting Method: 60/1
Recharges, Credit and Validity:
- BGN 4/4/12 months
- BGN 5/5/12 months
- BGN 8/8/12 months plus 3 months grace period
- BGN 10/10/12 months plus 3 months grace period
- BGN 20/20/12 months plus 3 months grace period
- BGN 25.25/12 months plus 3 months grace period
- BGN 30/30 /12 months plus 3 months grace period
- BGN 40/45/12 months plus 3 months grace period