Libya eSIM
Data for Libya on Libyana, Almadar Aljadid and Hatef Libya, from $25.89. It never expires, tethering is included, and refills land on the line you already have, with nothing new to install.
- Networks
- Libyana, Almadar Aljadid and Hatef Libya
- Typical speed
- 20.1 Mbps
- 5G
- yes, standalone
- Throttle
- None on metered plans
- Tethering
- Allowed on every plan
Plans for Libya
| Data | Validity | Price per GB | Price | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | Never expires | $25.89 | $25.89 | |
| 3 GB | Never expires | $19.96 | $59.89 | |
| 5 GBMost travellers | Never expires | $18.58 | $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 20.1 Mbps actually means in Libya
Typical download speed on Orbislo in Libya: 20.1 Mbps. That is below the Africa median of 30 Mbps, so plan around it rather than being surprised by it.
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 Libya on Libyana, Almadar Aljadid and Hatef Libya. 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 Libya: yes, standalone. Worth knowing that 5G on a travel profile is normal rather than special, and that the tenth percentile above is the number that will decide how the trip feels, not the generation label in the status bar.
What data costs in Libya
A 500 MB plan for Libya starts at $5.42, which is $0.01 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 Libya it means the effective cost is nearer $0.01 a gigabyte than $0.01.
Because nothing expires, the cheapest way to buy for Libya 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 Libya
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 Libya and it attaches to Libyana.
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.
Coverage across Libya
The figures above cover Libya as a whole, and a national figure hides real variation. We publish separate figures for Tripoli, Benghazi and Az Zāwīyah, because the difference between a capital and a coastal town is usually larger than the difference between two countries.
Outside the cities, coverage follows the same pattern it does everywhere: the main roads and the tourist corridors are well served, and it thins in the mountains and on the water. No travel eSIM changes that, because it is the same physical network the local population uses. What a multi network profile changes is which of the available towers you get to use.
Getting a local SIM in Libya
Libyana registers a foreign customer at one of its own service centres, in person, against an original passport, with 5 dinars payable at the counter. A foreign subscriber is allowed two Libyana lines registered in their name.
What is restricted in Libya
- Encryption tools: Libya's Law No. 5 of 2022 on combating cybercrime says no person or body may produce, possess, provide, distribute, market, manufacture, import or export means of encryption without a licence or permit from the National Information Security and Safety Authority.
- Online content monitoring: The 2022 cybercrime law lets the National Information Security and Safety Authority monitor what is published online and block material it considers a threat to social stability or peace. Electronic messages and conversations may only be monitored under an order from the competent judge.
- Blocked websites: The same law requires the National Information Security and Safety Authority to block websites and pages that show pornographic material or content against public morals, or that promote prostitution, and to prevent access to them.
Worth knowing about Libya
- A Libyana line sold to a visitor stays valid for 90 days. Leave it unused past that and it drops into a frozen state for a further 60 days before anything can be done with it.
- Libyana lets a visitor choose the language for text messages and the USSD service menu at the moment the line is registered, and the welcome message then arrives in that language.
- Libya has one emergency number, 1415, for ambulance, fire and police alike. It is worth saving in your phone before you travel.
- When Storm Daniel struck eastern Libya in September 2023, the flooding badly damaged telecommunications networks along with hospitals, and Tripoli and Misrata flooded again in December 2024. Severe weather can take mobile service down in affected areas.
- After the September 2023 floods, internet and telephone service in Derna was cut during protests. The state telecoms holding company blamed severed fibre optic cables and said service returned within the day, while other reports say the eastern armed forces kept the shutdown in place for four days.
- In October 2023 the eastern armed forces shut down internet access in Benghazi for more than a week during a military operation, and an outage of about five hours hit Tobruk in August 2022 while their commander was visiting the city.
- A localised internet shutdown lasting around 12 hours hit Tripoli in May 2025 during antigovernment protests. Most providers saw only reduced bandwidth, but at least one reported losing service completely.
- In 2017 Libya's mobile operators switched off phones registered to foreign subscribers, saying lines opened in migrants' names were being misused. Libyana and Almadar said foreign residents could reactivate their SIM cards by producing a valid visa and passport.
- A foreigner convicted of any offence under Libya's 2022 cybercrime law is expelled from the country by order of the court, on top of whatever prison term or fine the law sets for that offence.
- Communications outages have also followed demonstrations in Sirte, and in September 2022 internet service was cut in the Abu Hadi area south of Sirte when eastern forces besieged it during what they called a security campaign.
How Libya compares across Africa
- Regional typical speed
- 29.5 Mbps
- Upstream networks
- 3, Libyana, Almadar Aljadid, Hatef Libya
- 5G
- Yes, on Almadar in central Tripoli
- Next fastest nearby
- Ethiopia, 21 Mbps
- Cities with their own page
- 3: Tripoli, Benghazi, Az Zāwīyah
