Landing in Sofia on Monday - how fast can I get a SIM and home internet sorted?

Good news on both fronts - connectivity is one of the things Bulgaria does exceptionally well. Day one, mobile: yes, you can walk out of the airport with a working SIM. The three networks - A1, Yettel and Vivacom - all sell prepaid SIMs with just a passport (registration is required by law, so bring it into the shop). Expect 10-20 euro for a starter package with a generous data bundle; unlimited-data prepaid options exist for not much more. eSIM is available if your phone supports it. Coverage in Sofia is excellent, and 5G is standard. If you want a true safety net for your first week, get a SIM with a big data allowance and hotspot from it - speeds are good enough for video calls. Home fiber: Bulgaria has some of the cheapest fast internet in Europe - typically 8-13 euro a month for 300Mbps to 1Gbps. The main national providers are Vivacom and A1, plus strong local ISPs in Sofia like Networx and Cooolbox that often beat them on price and installation speed. Timeline: if the building is already cabled by that provider - and most Sofia blocks are cabled by two or three - installation is commonly within 2-5 working days of signing, sometimes next-day with the local ISPs. So realistically you are looking at under a week offline at home, covered by your mobile hotspot. Do not trust the listing: ask each provider to check the exact address (they can, instantly, in-store or by phone), and ask your landlord which ISPs already serve the building - an existing wall socket from a previous tenant can mean same-day reactivation. Contracts: 12-24 month terms get the best price; month-to-month costs slightly more and some providers want a Bulgarian ID number for contract plans, which prepaid mobile bridges until your paperwork lands. Comparison tables in our guide at /guides/internet-mobile-plans-bulgaria.