My phone has connected in Zambia and the RSA on this trip. However , it will not connect in Zimbabwe. Any ideas?

Zimbabwe telecoms are not paying their bills.

Interesting

I was told other visitors were unable to call, within Zimbabwe.

I asked our own telecom people here and this the answer I got.

I was unable to get reliable service with either my ATT or Verizon phone when I was there in May. I was able to connect in and around Vic Falls, but not at the airport?? I wasn't able to reliably connect in or around camp, but that wasn't overly surprising to me.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
My phone has connected in Zambia and the RSA on this trip. However , it will not connect in Zimbabwe. Any ideas?

Larry,
Do you have WiFI internet in camp, if so enable the WiFI calling on your phone. I was able to call home that way in 2020 from Sengwa Research with Mokore.

quote:

Originally posted by Gundog 64:

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
My phone has connected in Zambia and the RSA on this trip. However , it will not connect in Zimbabwe. Any ideas?

Larry,
Do you have WiFI internet in camp, if so enable the WiFI calling on your phone. I was able to call home that way in 2020 from Sengwa Research with Mokore.

No Wi-Fi in camp.

Both times I have been to Zim I could not connect. I am on Verizon. My most recent trip was in June and even in Victoria Falls, it would not connect. It is super annoying as I hate not having some service. I need to figure something out for next year as I don't want to be there for 3 weeks with zero service and a sat phone really isn't ideal for me either.

I could connect to both Zambia and Mozambique with Verizon the last time I was there, but no Zim due to them not paying their bills.

My daughter was in VF for a month in July, no problems with t-mobile.

quote:

Originally posted by Wesheltonj:
My daughter was in VF for a month in July, no problems with t-mobile.

She may have been getting Zambian signal. I was getting Zambian signal in parts of Nyakasanga.

Phones on borders do strange things.

When we travel to other countries, as soon as we land we get a message from our embassy giving us their 24 phone number in case of emergency and we require assistance.

Being close to borders in Europe we get several messages a day as we move from location to another, and cell reception is changed from one country to another!

If your phone is esim capable download the Airalo app and buy a Zim data esim. Most esims are data only, no phone number. 1Gb/7days for $9.50 and you can keep topping it up.

With ease of purchase esims are a game changer for international travel. No bothering PHs to buy you sims and fiddling around with them in camp. Far cheaper than any international plan.