Gibraltar coverage

What the Gibraltar numbers mean

Two numbers matter and only one of them is the one every seller quotes. The typical speed, 58 Mbps, tells you what a good moment looks like.

The tenth percentile, 15 Mbps, is the one that matters. It is the speed in the worst tenth of the day, when the cell above the station is full and everybody around you is on it too. A country with a high median and a low floor is a country that works beautifully right up until the moment you actually need it.

If the trip depends on video calls or tethering, plan around the busy figure rather than the typical one.

What happens in Gibraltar when the network is busy

Congestion is not a fault, it is a Tuesday evening. The question is what your eSIM can do about it, and for most travel eSIMs the answer is nothing: one wholesale agreement per country, one network, and no way out except buying a second eSIM from somebody else while standing in the street.

Here, Orbislo traffic runs over Gibtelecom. When the network you are on degrades we move you to another one, mid trip, without you asking, and tell you afterwards rather than interrupting you at the time.

Mobile operators in Gibraltar

• Gibtelecom: Under the Communications (Amendment) Act 2025, Gibtelecom Limited holds the exclusive privilege to provide and operate a mobile public telephone network in Gibraltar. Anyone else doing so without an authorisation approved by the Minister commits an offence punishable by up to two years in prison.
• Gibtelecom: The amendment giving government owned Gibtelecom exclusive rights to operate a mobile network in Gibraltar came into effect in October 2025.
• GibFibre: GibFibre obtained a mobile test and development licence from the regulator in 2024 and ran two live radio sites as a proof of concept, but says the government then blocked its commercial mobile launch by amending the Communications Act 2006.

5G in Gibraltar

• Gibtelecom launched 5G on 17 June 2021 after the regulator approved use of the 3.5 to 3.6 GHz band and 700 MHz frequencies. It came at no extra charge, and customers on older SIM cards were offered a free swap.
• Gibtelecom states that its 5G is available across all of Gibraltar. A phone needs 5G support and a 4G ready SIM to use it, and Gibtelecom lists the iPhone 12 and later among compatible handsets.

Network notes for Gibraltar

• The Government of Gibraltar said in October 2024 that it would grant an exclusive licence to a single mobile network operator to keep access to mobile services stable and reliable, citing Andorra, Monaco and the Falkland Islands as models.
• Apple's carrier list shows Gibtel supporting 5G, VoLTE, Personal Hotspot and FaceTime over cellular on iPhone in Gibraltar, but not Wi-Fi Calling.
• Most Gibraltar mobile numbers are eight digits starting with 5. Gibtelecom holds the 54, 56, 57 and 58 blocks and GibFibre holds smaller blocks in the 51 and 52 ranges, while the old 606 and 629 mobile ranges were withdrawn in 2013 and 2020.
• Gibraltar is a landing point for the Europe India Gateway submarine cable, in service since 2011, which links the UK and India with landings in Portugal, Monaco, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, Oman and the UAE.