Algeria eSIM

Data for Algeria on Djezzy and Ooredoo, from $6.89. It never expires, tethering is included, and refills land on the line you already have, with nothing new to install.

Networks: Djezzy and Ooredoo
Typical speed: 27 Mbps typical, 6 Mbps at busy times
5G: 4G only
Throttle: None on metered plans
Tethering: Allowed on every plan

An Orbislo eSIM for Algeria starts at $0.30 for 100 MB and runs on Djezzy and Ooredoo. Typical download speed is 27 Mbps, fine for maps and messaging, tight for video. Install the line for Algeria in one tap before you fly, turn on data roaming when you land, and the data never expires.

Plans for Algeria

Data plans for Algeria
Data	Validity	Price per GB	Price
1 GB	Never expires	$6.89	$6.89
3 GB	Never expires	$3.96	$11.89
5 GBMost travellers	Never expires	$3.18	$15.89
10 GB	Never expires	$2.39	$23.89
20 GB	Never expires	$2.09	$41.89
50 GB	Never expires	$1.86	$92.89

Every plan works the moment you land. Unused data returns to your wallet when the line closes, and customers get at least 100 MB of free rescue data a month even at zero balance.

What 27 Mbps actually means in Algeria

Typical download speed on Orbislo in Algeria: 27 Mbps. That sits close to the Africa median of 30 Mbps, which makes Algeria an unremarkable place to be connected, in the good sense.

The tenth percentile is 6 Mbps. That gap between the median and the floor is normal and it is where the frustration lives: the connection is quick most of the time and noticeably slow in the busiest few percent of moments, typically at transport hubs at peak hour.

Maps, messaging, ride hailing and payment apps all work without complaint. Video calls connect but will drop resolution, and streaming is better set to standard definition than left on automatic. Tethering a laptop works for email and documents rather than for calls.

Which networks you will be on

Orbislo carries traffic in Algeria on Djezzy and Ooredoo. Your phone is not tied to one of them. When the network you are attached to congests or drops, the profile moves you to the other, and it happens without a prompt and without you noticing anything except that the connection kept working.

This matters more than the headline speed. Almost every travel eSIM sold today resells a single upstream agreement per country, so when that one network has a bad hour you have a bad hour with it and your only option is to buy a second eSIM from somebody else. A profile with more than one network behind it can make a decision you never see.

5G in Algeria: 4G only. A well provisioned 4G cell comfortably outruns a congested 5G one, which is why the figure above is throughput rather than a network generation.

A single carrier provider cannot make this move.

What data costs in Algeria

A 100 MB plan for Algeria starts at $0.30, which is $0.00 a gigabyte. That is the number to compare between providers, because a headline price attached to a different allowance tells you nothing.

The comparison most providers would rather you did not run is cost per gigabyte actually used. Independent surveys of travel data put the share of purchased data lost to expiry between 20 and 35 percent, because a plan that expires on day thirty deletes what you did not get through. Orbislo data has no expiry date, so the gigabyte you paid for is still there on the next trip. At the same headline price that is 25 to 40 percent more usable data, and in Algeria it means the effective cost is nearer $0.00 a gigabyte than $0.00.

Because nothing expires, the cheapest way to buy for Algeria is to buy slightly less than you think you need and top up if you run out. Topping up takes about ten seconds and does not involve installing anything. Buying too much is the expensive mistake everywhere else and merely a neutral one here.

Landing in Algeria

Install before you fly, on your home wifi. The profile downloads while you still have a connection you trust, then sits dormant until you land in Algeria and it attaches to Djezzy.

On landing there is one thing to check: data roaming has to be switched on for the Orbislo line. It is off by default on both iOS and Android, and it has nothing to do with roaming charges here, because the plan is prepaid and there is no bill to run up. Turn it on for the Orbislo line and leave it off for your home line, and your home number keeps working for calls and bank codes without costing anything.

Getting a local SIM in Algeria

Algerian law requires the operator to establish the subscriber's identity before the line is switched on, so a local SIM cannot be bought and used in the same visit to the counter.

What is restricted in Algeria

Exam-day disruptions, 2024: During the baccalaureate from 9 to 13 June 2024, connectivity dropped twice a day, from 08:00 to 11:00 and again from about 14:00 until 16:00 or 17:00. The pattern pointed to interference with TCP-based traffic, a form of content blocking, rather than a full nationwide shutdown.
Exam-day disruptions since 2018: Algeria has disrupted connectivity during the baccalaureate every year since 2018, a practice that followed questions leaking online during the 2016 exams. In 2023 the education minister had said there would be no internet shutdown on exam days.
Social media blocks at exam time: During the 2023 national high school exams the government again blocked social media sites, including Facebook and X, for several days, a policy first introduced to stop exam papers being posted online.
Protest-related disruptions: During the 2019 Hirak protests, communications were disrupted ahead of planned demonstrations with internet shutdowns and blocks on some news sites and social media platforms. Parts of the country lost internet in March 2019, and access was restricted in some areas on 14 September 2019.
Drones and optical equipment: Bringing a drone, binoculars, a telescope or certain types of photography equipment into Algeria without authorisation is illegal. Anyone unsure about an item should check with Algerian customs before travelling.

Worth knowing about Algeria

Algeria disrupts mobile internet during the June baccalaureate exams. Cloudflare Radar measured two multi hour drops a day across Algerian networks in June 2023, repeating what it recorded in 2021 and 2022.
Dial 17 or 1548 for the police, 14 for the fire service and 1021 for an ambulance.
The identity check rests on Article 161 of Law 18-04 of 10 May 2018. ARPCE decision 53 of 18 October 2021 requires identification before any line or service is switched on and obliges operators to protect the personal data of prepaid and postpaid SIM and USIM customers.
Law 18-04 gives subscribers the right to keep their number when changing operator. Executive decree 21-199 of 11 May 2021 set the conditions for mobile number portability, and ARPCE fixed the practical rules in decision 18 of 27 June 2021.
Algeria's cybercrime law obliges internet providers to cooperate with law enforcement, and allows electronic surveillance to prevent terrorist or subversive acts and offences against state security when a judicial authority grants written authorisation.
The regulator's Jawdati app lets anyone in Algeria measure the quality of their internet connection.

How Algeria compares across Africa

Regional typical speed: 29.5 Mbps
Upstream networks: 2, Djezzy, Ooredoo
5G: 4G only
Next fastest nearby: Senegal, 29 Mbps
Next slowest nearby: Uganda, 27 Mbps
Cities with their own page: 1: Algiers

Cities in Algeria

Algiers

Questions about Algeria

Will my phone work in Algeria?

If it supports eSIM and is not carrier locked, yes. We check your exact model before you pay and tell you plainly if it will not work, rather than taking the money and leaving you to find out on arrival.

Which network will I be on in Algeria?

Djezzy or Ooredoo. Orbislo moves you to whichever is performing better where you are standing, without asking you and without you noticing.

How fast is the data really?

Typical download speed is 27 Mbps, and 6 Mbps when the network is busy. The busy figure is the one to plan around: it is what you can expect when the cell is crowded.

Does the data expire?

No. There is no validity window on wallet gigabytes, and anything left over from a country pack returns to your wallet when the pack ends. This is the single largest difference between what you pay here and what you pay elsewhere.

Can I keep my normal phone number in Algeria?

Yes. The Orbislo profile is a second line, so your home number stays active for calls and texts on its own line. Turn data roaming off for the home line and on for Orbislo, and set up wifi calling before you fly so bank codes still reach you.

Can I tether a laptop?

Yes, on every plan, at the same allowance as your phone data and at no extra cost. At 27 Mbps expect a tethered laptop in Algeria to be fine for email and documents and strained by video calls.

What if I run out of data in Algeria?

Customers, meaning anyone who bought from Orbislo in the last 12 months or holds a subscription, get at least 100 MB of free rescue data once a calendar month, loaded onto the line they are using in Algeria when the balance runs out. It exists so you are never in the position of needing data in order to buy data. Topping up takes about ten seconds and installs nothing.

Is Orbislo cheaper than the alternatives in Algeria?

At $0.00 a gigabyte, the number that matters is what the data you actually use costs you. Expiry destroys 20 to 35 percent of a pack elsewhere. Ours never expires, so on cost per gigabyte used we are ahead almost everywhere.

More of Africa

Angola$32.89500 MB Burkina Faso$16.89500 MB Benin$15.89500 MB Botswana31 Mbps typical$18.89500 MB DR Congo$12.89500 MB Central African Republic$16.891 GB

Africa regional plan Algeria coverage See all destinations