Home Internet in Bulgaria: Fiber Providers and 2026 Prices

Who you can actually buy from

Vivacom has the largest fixed footprint, sold as FiberNet from L (200/100 Mbps) up to 10G (10,000/2,000). Owner United Group spent years buying rivals: Vivacom absorbed the Sofia ISPs Net1 and ComNet, and took over Bulsatcom. If someone recommends Bulsatcom, stop: bulsatcom.bg now 301-redirects to a Vivacom support page.

A1 Bulgaria runs GPON fiber alongside a DOCSIS cable network, and which one reaches your flat matters. A1's tariff sheet states that the advertised speeds apply to GPON, and that on DOCSIS the upload on Нет 200 and Нет 300 is capped at 42 Mbps. Download looks identical on the poster; upload does not, and you feel it on calls.

Yettel sells "Интернет за дома" over its mobile network — 5G on the main plans, 4G on the entry one — not a cable into your flat. Fine for a village house or as a bridge, not a fiber substitute.

Local ISPs are what most foreigners never discover. In a 2025 filing to the Communications Regulation Commission, Vivacom said Sofia, Varna, Plovdiv and Burgas each have more than ten companies selling fixed internet over their own networks, and cited a regulator table showing 87% of users can pick among three or more. Cooolbox covers Sofia, Plovdiv and Veliko Tarnovo; NetSurf's site names Montana, Vratsa and Blagoevgrad. They win on what a new arrival cares about: no fixed term, and a technician this week.

What 2026 prices buy

The A1, Yettel and Cooolbox figures come from those operators' own published documents. Vivacom publishes no internet-only price on its FiberNet page — only "50% отстъпка за първите 2 месеца", 50% off for two months — so €17.90 and €27.90 are comparison-site figures to confirm in checkout.

Read which months a promo covers, not the banner. A1's Нет 10 000 is €35.79 a month for six months, then €76.69 for the remaining eighteen, against a €78.73 standard price. A1's "Интернет защита" add-on is also on by default with three months free, then bills €1.02 a month until you disable it in the My A1 app.

Check the building, not the city

Here is the trap that catches nearly everyone: "the building has fiber" is not information. It can mean a duct passes the street, that a competitor you cannot buy from has cable in the stairwell, or that there is a decade-old shared LAN. Landlords repeat their agent; listings repeat the landlord. Nobody is lying; nobody has checked.

The only evidence that counts is an operator's address checker returning a positive result for your exact building and entrance. Vivacom's legend separates GPON (optical to the apartment) from AON (optical to the building), LAN, 5G Home Internet and Mobix — only GPON and AON are fiber to you. With A1, ask which network, GPON or DOCSIS, serves the address, because those upload caps hang on the answer.

Bulgarian addresses key on the entrance (вход), not the street number — a block with entrances A to D can be cabled in three of them. Have the address in Bulgarian; the checkers handle transliterations badly. Read the operator stickers on the intercom and ask the building manager (домоуправител). Do this before you sign the rental contract: a €600 flat with no fiber is a worse deal than a €650 flat with it.

Installation and what to bring

Vivacom's order flow quotes an expected installation date of 14 to 20 days for the address you enter; two to three weeks is realistic for any national operator. A local ISP already wired into your stairwell is usually faster, but none publishes a commitment you can hold it to.

Operator help pages say an ID card or passport identifies you. In practice subscriber records are built around a Bulgarian personal number — ЕГН for citizens, ЛНЧ for foreign residents, which arrives with your residence paperwork (see residence permits and the lichna karta) — and staff may ask for one. Without a number, try a no-contract local ISP or a prepaid 5G router as a bridge (see mobile plans). Leaving the account in the landlord's name works, but leaves you no standing if the line dies. Pay at an EasyPay counter, as with utility bills.

Contracts and the cost of leaving

Under the EU Electronic Communications Code as transposed into Bulgarian law, a fixed term cannot exceed 24 months and the operator must also offer one of no more than 12. Ask for it: the two-year price is a few euros lower, but the one-year contract costs far less to escape. When the term ends the contract continues on the same terms instead of locking you into a fresh fixed period.

Two costs sit behind an early exit; the second is larger. Operators' general conditions cap the penalty at three standard monthly fees; on top of that you repay the discounts you already had. On A1's Нет 1000 you save €3.07 a month for a year and €2.04 for the next against the €22.49 standard, so leaving at month 18 means €49.08 of discounts to repay plus up to €67.47 of penalty — about €115 to walk away from a €20 plan. The exact formula varies by operator.

Operators' terms commonly also say the contract takes effect a set number of days after signing unless you ask in writing for it to start at once, and that you may leave without penalty if you move somewhere they cannot serve. Both are contract terms, not rights to assume — get any "no coverage" result in writing.

Under Article 102(3) of the EU code every operator must give you a one-page contract summary before you sign, and it states the minimum speed, not the advertised one. Cooolbox's advertises up to 950 Mbps but commits to 760 Mbps normally available and 190 Mbps minimum.

Bundles and routers

Bundles hide the real discounts. Vivacom advertises EON APP FULL — 600/400 Mbps plus 175-plus channels — at €17.90 a month on a 24-month term against a €35.64 standard price, though the fine print names a sign-up deadline that has already passed, so check what is on sale. A1's sheet shows Нет 1000 falling to €15.33 in year one if combined with another A1 service. If you were buying TV anyway, take the bundle; if not, it is how a €14 bill becomes €30.

A1's router is free for the term and must come back working. You cannot swap the fiber terminal, but A1's terms confirm you may put your own router behind it — in a concrete panel block you will want to.

This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the operator's current general conditions.

FAQ

Can I get home internet without a Bulgarian personal number?

Often, but expect friction. Operators publish that a passport is acceptable, while their systems are built around an ЕГН or ЛНЧ and shops may insist. A no-contract local ISP is the most flexible route; a prepaid 5G router keeps you online meanwhile.

How fast is installation really?

Vivacom quotes 14 to 20 days for a covered address. A local ISP already wired into your building can be quicker. If fiber must enter the building for the first time, budget a month or more.

Is Yettel's 5G home internet good enough to work on?

For email, browsing and video calls, generally yes. Speeds vary with cell load and the plans top out at 300 Mbps down with far lower upload — 20 Mbps up on the 100 Mbps plan, 50 Mbps on the 300. If you push large files upstream, hold out for fiber.

What happens if I leave Bulgaria before the contract ends?

You owe the early-termination penalty plus repayment of your discounts, and you return the equipment. Leaving the country is not an exit right, which is why a 12-month term is cheaper insurance than a 24-month deal you plan to break.

Sources

• Vivacom FiberNet plans and coverage checker
• Vivacom fiber and TV bundles
• A1 Нет price sheet and conditions (PDF)
• A1 fixed coverage check
• Yettel home internet plans
• Cooolbox cooolNet and its EU contract summary
• NetSurf
• Communications Regulation Commission and Commission for Consumer Protection
• Euronews, 8 June 2026: broadband prices across the EU
• Economic.bg, 22 June 2026: Bulgaria's digital paradox