Will a GSM unlocked phone work in Africa?

In 2006, 45% of rural settlements in Africa had GSM coverage . More recently, coverage has reached 90% of the territory in several countries, including Comoros, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Seychelles, South Africa, and Uganda.

Most GSM phones outside the U.S. (except in Japan and a few other countries) operate on the 900 MHz or 1800 MHz GSM bands . American and Canadian GSM networks work at the 850 MHz or 1900 MHz bands. With an unlocked, quad-band GSM phone, you’ve got all four bands covered.

Mobile operators in South Africa work on GSM networks . If your phone is not compatible with a GSM network, you need a new handset once you arrive. Cell phone prices in South Africa are pretty reasonable if you are happy to use a low-budget phone.11 Haz 2021

To summarize, unlocked GSM phones can be used with any compatible carrier across the globe . Some CDMA phone will come internationally unlocked but will find it more difficult to find a compatible CDMA carrier worldwide. Always check with your carrier and speak to them before you travel.

Most US phones do not use SIM cards and for those operators that do (like T-Mobile) your phone will be locked on the US and won’t work. Instead you can borrow, buy or rent an unlocked phone that accepts a SIM card. In South Africa it quite easy and fast to rent a local phone and SIM card in the Johannesburg airport.

GSM works in SA as in most other countries worldwide .