The good news is SIM cards and data prices in Cambodia are surprisingly affordable compared to Europe or America. They are also easy to get. Either it is in an airport, a train station or a tourist destination, there are many mobile stores and convenience stores that can offer travelers SIM card and support services. Take a look at the information below because it is definitely useful on your Asia vacation to Cambodia.
Buying a SIM card in Cambodia
All networks offer 2G, 3G, and 4G/LTE services. Some service providers are better than others regarding their signal coverage. In big cities or crowded residential areas, signal strength is relatively good so you don’t really have to worry about this. But if you travel to mountainous or remote areas, be sure to have a check beforehand.
Double-check with the provider about the service price and package validity as they can change and also about the compatibility between your phone and the network. Usually, unlocked phones work fine with all types of SIM cards.
Where to buy a prepaid Cambodia SIM card?
Travelers can look for big Cambodia mobile network providers like Cellcard, Metfone or Smart. SIM cards can be purchased in airports, official stores or even small corner shops. A passport is needed in order to get a SIM card in Cambodia for registration, which only takes less than 15 minutes.
Mobile Network Providers in Cambodia
Metfone
Metfone is the biggest mobile network providers in Cambodia with about 50% market. They also provide the best coverage in remote, rural areas.
Metfone introduced 4G/LTE in 2016 on 1800 MHz (band 3) and they say most of cities and town centers in Cambodia have already been covered.
You can buy Metfone SIM from $1-2 in their official shops, phone shops or at the airport. They offer 3 kits: EcoTariff. 4ever Tariff and MetTravel Tariff but they all are available for same data packages.
All new SIM cards need activation. Do that by calling to 1770. Some phones may ask for a PIN code, try entering 0000.
The code to check your balance is *097#. When you need to charge your phone account, you can buy top-up vouchers from $0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 to 50. The bigger you charge, the longer they extend your account validity. Top-up code is *197*<14-digit scratch card code>#.
In order to use data, you must buy a package. Below are all of Metfone packages:
| Data | Time | Price | Code |
| Limited data packages: the price for data after the limit is $ 0.02 per MB | |||
| 1 GB | 1 night | $ 0.10 | *133*110# |
| 100 MB | 1 day | $ 0.10 | *133*1*1# |
| 700 MB | 30 days | $ 1 | *133*1# |
| 1.5 GB | $ 2 | *133*2# | |
| 4 GB | $ 3 | *133*1*3# | |
| 7 GB | $ 5 | *133*5# | |
| 15 GB | $ 10 | *133*10# | |
| 30 GB | $ 20 | *133**20# | |
| Unlimited data packages: the speed after the quota is 384 kbps | |||
| 200 MB | 1 day | $ 0.20 | *133*25# |
| 1.5 GB | 1 week | $ 1.50 | *133*150# |
| 3 GB | 30 days | $ 3 | *133*4# |
| 5 GB | $ 5 | *133*50# | |
| 12 GB | $ 10 | *133*100# | |
The code to check data balance is *133*097#
If you use unlimited packages, you can reset your data speed by:
750 MB: $ 0.50, code: *133*3#
1.5 GB: $ 1, code: *133*9#
Facebook and Line messenger packages offer users unlimited access:
for 1 day: $ 0.05, code: *133*6#
for 1 month: $ 1, code: *133*8#
YouTube packages:
for 1 week: $ 1, activation: *133*62#
for 1 month: $ 3, activation: *133*82#
Smart
Smart is the 2nd largest mobile network provider in Cambodia. Its 2G coverage is 98% and 3G coverage is 75%. Their 4G network is the first in the country and now available in all big cities and provinces.
Their SIM card is sold for $1 without little credit. If you prefer using 4G than 3G or 2G, ask them specifically for a 4G SIM card.
The code to check your balance is *888#. When you need to charge your phone account, you can buy top-up vouchers from $ 1 to $ 50. Top-up code is *888*<13-digit PIN code>#.
Data packages
| Data | Limit | Price | Code |
| 100 MB | 24 hours | $ 0.10 | *087#10# |
| 250 MB | $ 0.25 | *087#25# | |
| 1 GB | $ 1 | *087#100# | |
| 500 MB | 1 month | $ 1 | *087#101# |
| 2 GB | $ 3 | *087#300# | |
| 4 GB | $ 5 | *087#500# | |
| 8.5 GB | $ 10 | *087#1000# | |
| 13 GB | $ 15 | *087#1500# | |
| 25 GB | $ 25 | *087#2500# |
They will charge 2.5c per MB if you don’t register a package.
Smart offers these add-ons targeting social media users:
- Facebook, LINE, WeChat, Viber and WhatsApp: $ 1, code: *998*92#
- LINE: $ 0.02 per day, *998*31# or $ 0.50 per month, code: *998*32#
- WhatsApp: $ 0.02 per day, *998*31# or $ 0.50 per month, code: *998*32#
- Viber: $ 0.02 per day, code: *998*41# or $ 0.50 per month, code: *998*42#
- Facebook: $ 0.03 per day, code: *998*11# or $ 0.70 per month code: *998*12#
You can also buy Smart’s tourist SIM cards called Traveller SIMs.
- A free 3-day SIM card with 10 network minutes, 10 network texts and 100 MB data.
- A 7-day SIM card for $ 5, with unlimited network minutes, unlimited network texts, 2 GB data, unlimited data for Facebook, LINE, Viber, WeChat and WhatsApp and $ 1 credit.
Both types offer 4G/LTE. If you need more data, you can use the same packages as above. These SIM cards can only be found in International Airports.
Cellcard
Although Cellcard is not the biggest provider in Cambodia, they still offer very generous deals for its users.
Their signal is quite good in big cities but not the same in rural areas. They have also been launching 4G for a few years now with most of the crowded residential areas covered.
Their SIM card price is similar to other providers, about $ 1. Avoid their "Niyeay" SIM card, it is not suitable for tourists because you can not buy data packages. A regular SIM has $ 1 to call in-net, 50 in-net texts and 10 MB data to use in 30 days. If you want to use 4G/LTE, ask the seller for a 4G SIM card.
The code to check your account balance is #823#. Top-ups cards can be bought in official Cellcard stores for $1, $2, $5, $10, and $50. To top-up, dial *123*<14-digit PIN code>#.
Data packages
|
Data |
Time | Price |
Code |
| 1 GB | 1 day | $ 0.25 | #1000# |
| 4 GB | 7 days | $ 2 | *6767*200# |
| 8 GB | 30 days | $ 5 | *6767*500# |
| 18 GB | $ 10 | *6767*1000# | |
| 40 GB | $ 20 | *6767*2000# |
When you pass the limit, the rate is 2.5c per MB.
The packages will renew automatically if you have enough credit to subtract. The code to check data balance is #823#. One day is based on a calendar day, not 24 hours from the moment of activation.