Mobile Phone Service in Hungary
Getting a SIM card in Hungary is pretty easy. There are 3 options for mobile phone service providers you can choose from:
All of them have both pre-paid and post-paid (contract) options.
Getting a Phone
If you need to get a phone in Hungary, you have a few options:
From a provider
Of course, you can get a phone from one of the providers listed above. If you’re getting a post-paid contract, you can often get a “free” phone with your contract.
From a branded store
There are Samsung stores and Huawei stores in Budapest, where you can buy their respective mobile devices. There are also Apple Certified Resellers; the biggest one is called iStyle.
From an electronics store
Mediamarkt and BestByte both sell mobile phones, and sometimes they have phone providers in their stores, too. They have stores in many of the malls.
From a “GSM store”
In Hungary, there are many, many “GSM stores“. At these stores, you can buy used or new phones, and sometimes you might even be able to haggle a bit.
Mobile Phone Service Providers
Like I said before, there are 3 providers: Vodafone, Telekom, and Telenor.
Vodafone
Vodafone has many stores in Hungary with English-speaking staff, and their pre-paid plans are quite affordable. Here are some of their pre-paid rates:
- “Tuti Net”: 1245 HUF (€3.16) for 1GB data & 19 HUF/minute or SMS
- “Tuti Net 5GB”: 3559 HUF (€9.03) for 5GB data & 19 HUF/minute or SMS
- “Max L”: 3858 HUF (€9.79) for 1GB data & 100 included minutes/SMS
- There are other pre-paid plans and also add-ons for extra data, if you run out
If you don’t have a plastic address card (lakcímkártya), they might only let you get a pre-paid plan. However, after being here for 3 years, all of a sudden they told me I could get a post-paid plan. Even if you do get a post-paid plan, I’ve heard of them making foreigners pay some a deposit up front.
Telekom
Telekom also has many stores in Hungary, but doesn’t specifically say which ones have English-speaking staff. Here are some of their pre-paid rates:
- 25 HUF/min (€0.06) for calls
- 25 HUF/SMS (€0.06)
- 2090 HUF (€9.79) for 2GB data
- 3990 HUF (€9.79) for 6GB data
I had some issues with Telekom when I first arrived to Hungary, because of not having an address card (lakcímkártya) yet. I’ve had plenty of friends use them though.
Telenor
Like Vodafone, Telekom also tells you where they have english-speaking staff. Telenor’s pre-paid plans seem to be a little different from Vodafone or Telekom. Here are some of the details:
- “MyMinute” package: 19 HUF/min or SMS (€0.05)
- Add data: 1GB for 1230 HUF (€3.12)
- Add data: 3.5GB for 2660 HUF (€6.75)
- “MyTalk” package: 1943.41 HUF (€4.93) for 100 minutes/SMS & 50MB data
- “MyChat” package: 1645.3 HUF (€4.17) for 1GB data & 40 HUF/minute or SMS & unlimited messaging services (Viber, WhatsApp, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Twitter, Instagram)
- “MyTalk & Chat” package: 4645.3 HUF (€11.78) for 1GB data & 100 minutes/SMS (+ unlimited in-network calls) & unlimited messaging services (Viber, WhatsApp, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Twitter, Instagram)
Note that the prices here are from the Hungarian site. The English version has different prices, for some reason.
Making Phone Calls in Hungary
A quick note on phone numbers in Hungary.
Landlines in Hungary are 6 or 7 digits. In Budapest, they’re 7, and in the rest of the country, they’re 6.
Area codes are 2 digits, except for Budapest which is just “1”.
To dial a number in another area code, you must dial 06 or +36 (Hungary’s country code) or 0036 first:
- 06 + area code + phone number
- 0036 + area code + phone number
- +36 + area code + phone number
The mobile phone providers each have their own prefix, also, used just like the area codes:
- Telenor: 20
- Telekom: 30
- Vodafone: 70
On my mobile phone, I usually just program in all numbers with the +36 format, so they still work when I’m outside the country.
Find more info about Hungarian telephone numbers in this Wikipedia article.
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