Before you start

Passport for a prepaid SIM
Residence card and LNCh for postpaid
A Bulgarian bank account for direct debit on most contracts
Landlord permission for any installation

Step-by-step

1
Buy a registered prepaid SIM on arrival
A1, Yettel and Vivacom sell prepaid packs at the airport, in malls and in kiosks, registered against your passport. Data allowances are generous and prices low.
In personWho: YouDay 1
2
Move to postpaid once the residence card exists
Postpaid plans want the residence card, LNCh and usually a Bulgarian bank account for direct debit. Cheaper per gigabyte and often bundled with home internet and television.
In personWho: You
3
Check which operators serve the building
Bulgarian buildings are wired by whichever operators have installed equipment. In Sofia's larger residential districts that is usually two or three; older central buildings can be limited. Ask the landlord or building manager, not the operator's coverage map.
In personWho: You
4
Expect fibre rather than cable in the residential districts
Sofia's panel-block districts — Mladost, Lyulin, Studentski Grad — are comprehensively fibred and connections there are fast and cheap. Some older central buildings lag behind.
OnlineWho: You
5
Confirm tariffs are quoted in euro
All tariffs were restated in euro at the changeover. A lev price on a comparison site is historic. Ask the operator for the current euro price.
OnlineWho: You
6
Port your number when switching
Bulgaria operates number portability and the process is quick. Never cancel the old contract before the port completes.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport for prepaid registration
Residence card and LNCh for postpaid
Bulgarian bank details for direct debit
Landlord permission for installation

Things most newcomers don’t know

Sofia's socialist-era residential districts have better internet than its handsome central streets.

Mladost, Lyulin and Studentski Grad were built as dense panel-block estates with service ducts, and operators have refibred them comprehensively. The nineteenth and early twentieth century buildings around the Doctor's Garden and Oborishte are harder and more expensive to wire and are sometimes still on older infrastructure. If your income depends on the connection, this is a real argument for the less picturesque address.

Source: community-reported

Bundling is priced aggressively here and standalone contracts are poor value.

Bulgarian operators compete hard on combined mobile, fixed broadband and television packages, and the bundle discount is large rather than token. Someone who signs a standalone broadband contract and a separate mobile plan frequently pays substantially more than the bundle would cost. Ask for the combined price explicitly; it is rarely the advertised headline.

Source: community-reported

Since euro adoption, Bulgarian roaming and EU pricing finally line up with the currency you are billed in.

Bulgaria has been inside EU roaming rules for years, but bills arrived in leva and comparisons with other EU tariffs required a conversion. Since 1 January 2026 the bill and the EU price cap are in the same currency, which makes it genuinely straightforward to check whether a plan is competitive against a German or Spanish one. It is a small thing that removes a persistent source of confusion.

Source: European Central Bank

Prepaid SIMs are registered, so the anonymous option does not exist.

Bulgarian operators register prepaid SIMs against identity documents. A passport is sufficient on arrival, so this is no obstacle, but the anonymous prepaid SIM that older guides mention is gone. The upside is that a lost SIM can be blocked and the number recovered.

Source: Bulgarian Communications Regulation Commission

Common mistakes to avoid

Choosing a beautiful central building without checking which operators serve it.
Signing standalone contracts instead of asking for the bundle price.
Working from lev-denominated tariff comparisons published before 2026.
Attempting a postpaid contract before the residence card exists.
Cancelling an old contract before the number port completes.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.