Internet & Phone in Georgia: SIM Cards, Home WiFi, and Staying Connected

Getting online in Georgia is cheap and mostly painless — but there are pitfalls that can waste your time if you don't know what you're doing. Some expats spend their first week tethering off an expensive EU roaming plan. Others sign up for home internet only to discover their building only has one provider, and it's the worse one.

This guide covers everything: buying a SIM card on day one, choosing home internet, the real speeds you can expect, and the honest limitations. Georgia ranked 18th globally for mobile internet speed in 2025 — better than most of Europe. Fixed broadband? That's a different story.

Buying a SIM Card

Your first priority after landing. You need a local SIM to book taxis (Bolt, Maxim), use Google Maps with data, receive bank verification codes, and generally function. Don't bother with airport SIMs — they're overpriced tourist packages. Head to any provider's shop in the city instead.

You'll need your passport to register a SIM card. The process takes about 10 minutes at any provider's store. All three providers have shops on Rustaveli Avenue and in every major mall.

The Three Providers

Mobile Data Plans & Prices

Georgian mobile data is absurdly cheap by Western standards. You can get unlimited monthly data for about what you'd pay for a single day of EU roaming. All three providers offer prepaid plans — no contract needed.

A SIM card costs about 10 GEL from any provider. You can top up at any supermarket, bank terminal, or through the provider's app. Most expats settle on an unlimited monthly plan for 32 GEL (~$12) and never think about data again.

eSIM Options

If your phone supports eSIM (most phones from 2020 onward), you have two routes:

The smart move: buy a local eSIM from Magticom before you even land (through their website), then activate it when you arrive. You'll have data immediately and a local number for bank registrations, taxi apps, and restaurant reservations.

Home Internet

Two companies dominate home internet in Georgia: Magticom and Silknet. There's no meaningful third option in most areas. In some buildings, only one of them has fiber installed — so your "choice" might be made for you. Ask your landlord before signing a lease if internet quality matters to you.

Plans & Pricing

Installation is free for new subscribers at both providers. Expect a technician visit within 1–3 days of signing up. You'll need your passport and a Georgian phone number.

Magticom vs Silknet: The Honest Comparison

Real-World Speeds

Let's talk about what you'll actually experience, not what the marketing says.

Mobile: Georgia's mobile internet is genuinely fast. In central Tbilisi, you'll regularly see 50–100+ Mbps on 4G. Magticom's 5G in covered areas pushes well over 200 Mbps. Even in smaller cities like Kutaisi and Batumi, 4G is reliable and fast. The mountains are where things get spotty — Svaneti, Tusheti, and remote parts of Kakheti can drop to 3G or nothing.

Home internet: Georgia ranked 114th globally for fixed broadband speed in 2025. That tells you what you need to know. The advertised speeds of 50 or 100 Mbps are achievable if your building has good fiber infrastructure. But older buildings often get 15–30 Mbps regardless of what you're paying for. Power outages are the real issue — your router dies every time the electricity goes out, which happens more often than you'd like in older districts.

Internet for Remote Workers

A lot of expats in Tbilisi are remote workers or freelancers, and connectivity is make-or-break for the affordable digital nomad lifestyle. The good news: Tbilisi is one of the better cities in the Caucasus for remote work. The bad news: it's not Lisbon or Bangkok.

Coworking Spaces

If reliable internet is non-negotiable for your work, a coworking space removes the variable entirely. Most offer 100+ Mbps fiber, backup power, and air conditioning — luxuries in some Tbilisi apartments.

Free WiFi & Public Internet

WiFi is everywhere in Georgia. Every restaurant, café, hotel, and mall offers free WiFi. The Tbilisi metro technically has WiFi, though "functional" would be a generous description.

"Tbilisi Loves You" is a free public WiFi network available in central Tbilisi. It works in a pinch for checking messages, but it's slow, unreliable, and unsecured. Don't use it for anything involving passwords or financial information.

Airports in Tbilisi, Batumi, and Kutaisi all offer free WiFi. Tbilisi Airport's is decent — good enough for a video call while waiting for your ride.

First-Week Setup Guide

Here's exactly what to do and when, based on what actually matters in practice:

Topping Up & Managing Your Plan

Keeping your phone loaded is easy. Georgian providers use a prepaid model — you add credit, then activate data packages from that balance. Here's how:

International Calls & Roaming

Most expats never make traditional phone calls — WhatsApp, Telegram, and Messenger handle everything. But if you do need to call internationally:

Starlink & Satellite Internet

Starlink launched in Georgia in November 2023 and is available nationwide. It's the only option that makes sense in truly remote areas — mountain villages, rural Kakheti, or if you're living the off-grid dream.

The downside: the equipment costs about 2,015 GEL (~$750) upfront, plus roughly 160 GEL (~$59) per month. For most expats in Tbilisi, that's absurd overkill. But for remote workers in rural Georgia or people fed up with unreliable building connections, it's a genuine option.

Latency is 25–60ms — fine for video calls but not great for competitive gaming. Speeds typically range 50–200 Mbps depending on congestion and weather.

Common Mistakes

Total Monthly Costs

For context, that's less than the price of a basic mobile plan in most Western countries — and it covers unlimited mobile data plus home fiber. Georgia might have its infrastructure quirks, but cost isn't one of them.

FAQ