Before you start

Unlocked handset
Passport and the visa page with your entry stamp
Egyptian address and bank account, for postpaid

Step-by-step

1
Buy from an official operator store
Airport counters and operator branches register properly. Back-street shops are where registration problems originate.
In personWho: You
2
Register against your passport
The shop copies your passport and your visa page including the entry stamp, then registers the SIM in your name. No fingerprints or photographs are required.
In personWho: You
3
Choose Vodafone or Orange for coverage
Both have strong reach across the city and along the north coast, which matters if you will spend summer weekends west of Alexandria. Etisalat competes on price; WE is the smallest and least consistent.
In personWho: You
4
Check fixed-line internet at the specific flat
Alexandria's housing stock ranges from 1930s seafront blocks to new towers, and what a building can carry varies far more than the neighbourhood suggests. Ask the landlord what is installed and what speeds neighbours actually get, rather than trusting a district-level coverage map.
OnlineWho: You
5
Move to postpaid once you have residency
Contracts require an Egyptian address and usually a local bank account.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport
Visa page with entry stamp
Egyptian address and bank account, for postpaid

Things most newcomers don’t know

They need your visa page, not just your passport.

Shops copy the passport and the visa page including the entry stamp before registering the SIM to you. Arriving with a passport but no record of your entry stamp — or with the stamp in an older passport — creates an avoidable problem at the counter and a second trip.

Source: Egyptian SIM registration practice

Buy from an official store, not a street kiosk.

Registration is the whole transaction, and a SIM registered incorrectly or in somebody else's name can be cut off later, taking your bank one-time codes with it. The five minutes at a Vodafone or Orange branch is worth it over a marginally cheaper kiosk.

Source: community-reported, widely corroborated

Check coverage west along the north coast if you will spend summers there.

A large share of Alexandria's social life in July and August moves west along the coast towards Marsa Matrouh, through areas where network quality varies noticeably between operators. If you are going to be there for weeks rather than days, that is a real input into which network you pick — and it is not something a city coverage map will tell you.

Source: community-reported, corroborated across north coast users

Use ride-hailing rather than street taxis, which makes data a first-day necessity.

Uber and Careem both operate in Alexandria, price transparently and remove the fare negotiation that street taxis involve. With the tram and Abu Qir line out of service, ride-hailing is carrying more of the city's movement than it used to, so a working data connection is a practical necessity on arrival rather than a convenience.

Source: community-reported

Common mistakes to avoid

Turning up without the visa page showing your entry stamp.
Buying an unregistered or third-party-registered SIM from a street shop.
Choosing WE on price and finding coverage inadequate, particularly outside the city.
Signing a fixed-line contract without checking what the specific building can actually carry.
Signing a postpaid contract before you have residency and a bank account.

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