Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Telephone
Every landline in Zambia uses the area code system; you only have to dial it if you are
calling outside of your area code. Remember to drop the zero if you are dialling from out-
side Zambia.
Almost all telecommunication services are provided by the government monopoly,
Zamtel. Public phones operated by Zamtel use tokens, which are available from post of-
fices (ZMW0.50) or local boys (ZMW1) hanging around phone booths. These tokens last
three minutes but are only good for calls within Zambia. Phone booths operated by Zamtel
use phone cards (ZMW5, ZMW10, ZMW20 or ZMW50) available from post off- ices and
grocery shops. These phone cards can be used for international calls, but it's often easier
to find a 'phone shop' or 'fax bureau,' from where all international calls cost about
ZMW12 per minute.
International services are generally good, but reverse-charge (collect) and toll-free calls
are not possible. The international access code for dialling outside of Zambia is 00, fol-
lowed by the relevant country code. If you're calling Zambia from another country, the
country code is 260, but drop the initial zero of the area code.
MOBILE PHONES
MTN and Airtel offer mobile (cell) phone networks. It's almost impossible to rent mobile
phones in Zambia, but if you own a GSM phone, you can buy a SIM card for only around
ZMW3 without a problem; this is easy to do at Lusaka Airport. You can then purchase
credit in whatever denominations you need from the same company as your SIM; scratch
cards range from ZMW1 to ZMW100. In Lusaka the best place to buy a cheap mobile
phone is around Kalima Towers (cnr Chachacha Rd & Katunjila Rd); a basic model will
cost from ZMW80 to ZMW100.
Numbers starting with 09 plus another two numbers, eg 0977, are mobile phone num-
bers. Mobile phone reception is getting better all the time; generally, it's very good in urb-
an areas and surprisingly good in some rural parts of the country and patchy or non-exist-
ent in others.
Time
Zambia is two hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT/UTC). There is no daylight
saving.
