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By phone in Zambia


By phone in Zambia

Public telephone, Zambian style
Public telephone, Zambian style
The country code for Zambia is "260." The city code for Lusaka is "211." For the city code for other towns check the directory." However, phone service both within Zambia and into Zambia is very hit-or-miss. In large cities, you are more likely to get regular, dependable phone service, but it is by no means a guarantee. The farther you travel from Lusaka, the less likely you are to maintain a good connection. International calling rates can be as high as $3 per minute. Cell phones have been booming in recent years, and Zambia has a highly competitive market with three main operators: Cell Z (0955), MTN (0966,0967) and Zain (0976,0977,0979). Generally speaking, Zain has the largest network, while Cell Z is the cheapest. You can pick up a local SIM card for as little as 5,000K ($1). Prepaid time is sold in "units" corresponding to dollars: figure on 0.4 units for an SMS or up to 1 unit/minute for calls, although as always the precise tariffs are bewilderingly complex. If you plan on roaming with your non-Zambian SIM, check first to see if your home operator has made any roaming agreements ? Zambia is usually not on the top of their list. Also note that coverage in rural areas can be spotty. Booths labeled "public telephone" these days consist, more often than not, of a guy renting out his cellphone. Typical rates are 5000K/min ($1) for domestic and 15000K/min ($3) for international calls.

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Zambia Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.

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