Does Kilimanjaro have cellphone reception and internet?

For some the chance to climb Kilimanjaro is a chance to leave tech behind for a few days. But we know that many of you will want your gadgets, especially your mobile phone, on the climb, so these details are for you.

There is cellphone – or mobile – signal on Kilimanjaro, but it's spotty.

If you decide to climb Kilimanjaro with Follow Alice, your trek guides will be able to tell you where to find the spots for cellphone signal on the mountain.

You’ll have steady access to electricity in Tanzania right up till the moment you leave to drive to the Kilimanjaro National Park for your trek. After that you’ll need to charge any devices with your own power source.

Note that solar charges aren’t ideal, as the sun isn’t always out on Kilimanjaro. This is especially the case early on when you're in the rainforest and moorland sections of the mountain. We recommend bringing a standard power bank if you want to charge devices on the mountain. Fortunately they are fairly inexpensive these days.

Reception has improved dramatically in recent years and you can now find cellphone signal on most of Kilimanjaro. Reception can be slow at times, but it’ll certainly be good enough to send you dearly beloveds regular reassurances that you haven’t fallen off the mountain.

We feel that it's probably still best to save up the pics you want to share with others for when you’re back at the lodge after the climb.

We recommend buying a local SIM card when you land in Tanzania if you're going to be staying in the country for longer than two weeks. This will be cheaper than using international roaming.

That said, you don't want the hassle of registering for a local SIM card with your passport if you're only staying a short while, as the process can sometimes be time-consuming. In such instances, we recommend purchasing an eSIM before travelling to Tanzania.

Tigo and Vodacom are your best bets for network service on Kili

If you do decide to buy a local SIM card, note that there are five network providers in Tanzania:

We recommend going with Vodacom or Tigo (or possibly Airtel), as these are the biggest players offering the widest coverage. They usually offer service on the mountain where other network providers do not. They're also good network providers if you're going on a Tanzania safari or Zanzibar beach holiday before or after your Kilimanjaro climb.

A local SIM card will cost you between US$1 and $10. You can then expect to pay somewhere between US$5 to $20 for data, call and text packages.

Again, your climb guides are the people to speak to when wanting to find out where exactly on the mountain you can pick up a cellphone signal.

As we discuss in Kilimanjaro now has internet! A good or bad thing?, you can now access the internet on parts of the mountain. This is because Tanzania Telecommunications Corporation installed broadband in 2022 that lets Kilimanjaro climbers connect to the internet up to an altitude of about 3,720 m (12,200 ft).

You can't as yet access the internet from the highest portion of Kilimanjaro

The plan is to eventually provide internet access all the way to the summit of Kilimanjaro, but for now it's a major development that you can get it anywhere at all on the mountain!

That said, we don't recommend banking on internet access during your climb. You're in the big, wide outdoors on Kilimanjaro, and shouldn't rely on things like stable internet access.

Also, in our opinion, it's best to think of this trek as a time to disconnect. A Kilimanjaro climb is the perfect time for a mindful holiday, wouldn't you agree? 🤓