Bulgaria is a country in Europe with three major mobile operators, i.e., A1 Bulgaria, Telenor, and Vivacom. Two more operators exist in Bulgaria, but they only provide 4G/LTE — T.com and Bulsatcom. All three main service providers offer good 2G and 3G services covering 95% of the country’s area. You can easily get the SIM card in the official stores of the carriers as well as various supermarkets.
To get a local SIM card, you need to register yourself with a valid national ID or passport (if you are a tourist). Bulgaria is part of the European Union, hence you don’t need to worry about the roaming charges when carrying an EU SIM card. To clarify, you can use your SIM card throughout the EU, yet pay local rates in Bulgaria. For more details, let’s talk about the top SIM cards available in Bulgaria.
1. A1 Bulgaria
A1 was rebranded from Mtel in 2018 and is now owned by Telekom Austria. Its prepaid SIM card is called A1 Prepaid. The company launched 4G/LTE in 2016, which presently covers 99% of the population. Its prepaid starter pack is known as A1 Holiday Plus, sold for 6 BGN, and gives a 3-in-1 SIM card (Standard, Micro, and Nano SIM card). This starter pack gets you 1.5 GB of data, 30 voice minutes to 50 countries, and a validity of 10 days. You can also buy add-ons if you need an upgrade.
The add-ons are: (i) 50 minutes to 50 countries with 10 days validity for 9.99 BGN; (ii) 150 minutes to 50 countries with 30 days validity for 29.99 BGN; (iii) 10 days validity for 2 GB of data at 9.99 BGN; (iv) 5 GB of data with 30 days validity for 29.99 BGN; (v) 2 GB of data, 50 voice minutes, and a 1-month validity for 24.99 BGN.
The mobile network provider from Bulgaria also offers SIM cards that can be recharged with data packs. They are as follows, (i) 15 GB of data with 30 days validity for 15 BGN; (ii) 50 GB of data with 30 days validity for 50 BGN; (iii) 30 GB of data valid for 30 days for 25 BGN. A1 SIM cards expire after 396 days of inactivity (no top-up, no calling/texting/data use) but lose their credit after 90.
2. Telenor
Telenor is a Norway-based telecom company and the second-largest operator in Bulgaria. The company sells its starter pack in two variations. One is for 8 BGN in which you get 3 BGN as credit, 100 off-network minutes, 200 on-network minutes, and 4 GB of data. The other one is for 10 BGN in which provides 3 BGN as credit, 100 off-network minutes, 300 on-network minutes, and 6 GB of data. The SIM card expires in 12 months if the last top-up was 10 BGN or more. In contrast, it can expire in 2 months when the last top-up was 6 BGN and stops working in 1 month if the last top-up was 5 BGN.
Telenor also provides tourist SIM cards starting at 6 BGN. This SIM card comes with 30 minutes to all EU countries, Turkey, Bosnia, Kazakhstan, Montenegro, Georgia, Macedonia, Moldova, Israel, Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia. It also has 1.5 GB of local data and a validity of 7 days. Charges after the consumption of 1.5 GB of data are 0.19 BGN per MB. This carrier from Bulgaria also offers some data-only plans for its prepaid SIM cards.
For 2.49 BGN you get 150 MB for 1 day, 4.99 BGN gets you 1.5 GB for 7 days, and 9.99 BGN grants you 3.5 GB for 30 days. Likewise, 14.99 BGN awards 7 GB for 30 days while for 19.99 BGN you receive 15 GB of data for 30 days. If you exceed the data usage limit, you will be charged 2.40 BGN per MB. The company also offers data-only SIM cards with two starter packs. Those are (i) Mobile Internet 15: 15 GB of data with a validity of 15 days for 15 BGN. (ii) Mobile Internet 30: 30 GB of data with 30 days validity for 30 BGN. This mobile data is only available inside Bulgaria’s network, not while roaming.
3. Vivacom
Vivacom is the third-largest wireless carrier in Bulgaria. It is also known under the names Vivatel, BTC, and BTK. The company launched its 4G/LTE services to several big cities and presently provides 4G/LTE to Sofia, Vratsa, Pernik, Ruse, Plovdiv, Burgas, and Varna. It offers starter packs, combo packs, data-only plans, and even data-only SIM cards. The starter packs it offers are Opa (5 BGN in credit for 8 BGN recharge), Get Free, Call Yo (3 BGN in credit and a bonus program for recharge for 6 BGN), and Viva (10 BGN credit for 12.99 BGN).
Moreover, there’s Viva International (6 GB of data, and 300 minutes to Russia, Turkey, EU, and Bulgaria for 6 BGN), and Viva Bonus (3 BGN in credit, 300 minutes, and 6 GB of data for 8 BGN). The top-up vouchers are available for 10 BGN, 20 BGN, and 50 BGN. The combo plans of the company are Bravo and Bravo+, both valid for 20 days. Bravo pack comes with 300 on-network minutes, 300 on-network SMSes, 4 GB of domestic data, and 3 BGN in credit, all for a recharge of 6 BGN. If you refill with 15 BGN, you get 600 voice minutes and 3 GB of data. Bravo+ gets you 4 GB of domestic data, 100 local minutes, and 5 BGN in credit for 10 BGN.
If you recharge with 15 BGN, you will receive 600 voice minutes and 3 GB of data. There are 4 data-featured plans offered by the company. We start with +Talk (200 MB, 900 on-network minutes, 20 off-network minutes, 7 days validity for 3.99 BGN), and continue with +Talk Super (1 GB of data, 1500 on-net minutes, 50 off-net minutes, 25 days validity for 6.99 BGN). There are also +Net (400 MB of data, 450 on-net minutes, 10 off-net minutes, 7 days validity for 3.99 BGN), and +Net Super (900 on-net minutes, 20 off-net minutes, 1.5 GB of data, 25 days validity for 6.99 BGN).