Mobile Phone Lines

Two Telephone companies operate in Cyprus. The Cypriot company CYTA and  the new Lebanese company Areeba. Of course if you are coming for a visit you can use the roaming service for your original line from you country, but to tell you the truth, it would be cheaper for you to buy a pre paid Cypriot sim card and use it, even if you are staying only for three days! The sim card from both companies costs the same price (about 10 pounds), but Areeba gives more incentives (free minutes or text messages). CYTA has the biggest share in the market, but both companies offer almost the same prices on telephone calls and text messages. You can drop in any of the centers for the companies to buy a sim card, or you can simply buy it from a kiosk. Nothing is required to buy the sim card, just pay for it! The signal is excellent in almost every part of the island. However, if you are planning to reside in Cyprus, and you plan to apply for a mobile or a land line, things might be a little different. A foreigner (it doesn’t matter if you are an EU or non-EU national), can apply for a land line at his house, provided he/she shows a valid passport, residency permit on the island, house rental/ownership contract and a deposit of 100 pounds refundable if you stop the service. On the other hand, if you want to apply for a mobile phone line, you have to provide the same documents but with a deposit of 1000 pounds, which we consider it to be a little of exaggeration. For that reason, foreigners on the island prefer to have a pre-paid sim card.