Before you start

Passport or ID for SIM registration
Meldezettel and an Austrian bank account, for most postpaid contracts
An unlocked or eSIM-capable handset
Landlord consent, for any installation that touches the building fabric

Step-by-step

1
Register the SIM — there is no anonymous option
Since 1 January 2019 every SIM sold in Austria, prepaid included, must be registered against identification. Supermarket and petrol-station SIMs are activated with your ID at the counter or through an app verification.
In personWho: YouDay 1
2
Go straight to a discount operator
The three networks are A1, Magenta and Drei. The discounters running on them — HoT sold through Hofer, spusu, yesss! and others — offer large data allowances for a fraction of the flagship price on the same coverage. There is little reason for a new arrival to sign a network-brand contract.
In personWho: You
3
Prepaid first, postpaid once the bank account exists
Postpaid contracts want an Austrian IBAN for direct debit and often a Meldezettel. A prepaid SIM in week one costs almost nothing and removes the pressure to sign something before the paperwork chain has completed.
In personWho: You
4
Check what actually reaches the flat before signing a lease
Ask the landlord or agent whether the flat has fibre to the apartment, a shared coaxial cable connection, or only copper. In a Gründerzeit building the honest answer is often copper or cable, and no amount of ordering a fibre tariff changes it. If your income depends on the connection, make this a viewing question.
In personWho: You
5
Order fixed-line early and expect an engineer
Installation lead times of two to four weeks are normal and a technician visit is usual. In older buildings the installation may need the landlord's permission and, in listed buildings, more than that.
OnlineWho: You2–4 weeks
6
Register the household media levy
The ORF-Beitrag is a per-household levy payable regardless of whether you own a television, replacing the old device-based GIS fee since 2024. It is billed to the registered household — expect it to find you via the population register.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport or ID
Meldezettel
Austrian IBAN, for postpaid and fixed line
Landlord consent for installations affecting the building

Things most newcomers don’t know

Every SIM in Austria has been identity-registered since 1 January 2019.

The registration obligation covers prepaid cards, which is unusual in Western Europe and means the burner-SIM trick used elsewhere does not work here. Practically it just means bringing your passport when you buy a starter pack, and being able to verify through the operator's app. It also means a SIM registered in someone else's name is legally their SIM, which matters if a colleague sets you up before you arrive.

Source: RTR; Telekommunikationsgesetz

Vienna's protected building stock is the real constraint on home internet.

A large share of the desirable inner-district housing sits in Gründerzeit blocks built before 1953, many in conservation areas, where running fibre into individual flats means work on a protected structure and the agreement of the whole ownership community. The result is that a flat advertised as being in a fibre-covered street can still only get VDSL or a shared cable line. Ask specifically about the connection at the flat, not the street.

Source: community-reported

The discount operators use the same three networks and cost a fraction of the brand price.

Austria has one of Europe's more competitive mobile-resale markets, with supermarket-sold and independent operators riding the A1, Magenta and Drei networks at the same coverage and, outside peak congestion, the same speed. Signing a 24-month network-brand contract for a subsidised handset is usually the most expensive way to buy both the phone and the data.

Source: RTR tariff comparison

The ORF-Beitrag follows the household, not the television.

Since 2024 Austria charges a per-household public broadcasting levy regardless of whether anyone in it owns a TV or radio, replacing the old device-based fee. It is assessed against the registered main residence, so it finds you shortly after the Meldezettel does. Newcomers who assume they can avoid it by owning no television are simply accruing an unpaid bill.

Source: ORF-Beitrags-Service