What changed on January 1, 2025?
On January 1, 2025, the Egyptian government launched an app called Telephony, managed by the NTRA (National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority) and the Customs Authority.
The app is used to register smartphones imported from abroad and to pay customs duties if applicable.
There are different opinions online about the registration requirement and when exactly the phone blocking in Egypt takes effect, so let’s clarify the situation based on the information currently available.
What we know about phone blocking in Egypt
Here are some confirmed facts and a few unclear points:
The requirement is not retroactive:
Phones that were purchased or activated before January 1, 2025, are not required to be registered through the new Telephony system.
Grace period:
You have 90 days to register your phone on Telephony. After this period, access to mobile networks will be blocked.
What we don’t know:
It is not clear whether the 90-day countdown starts when you enter Egypt or when you first connect to an Egyptian mobile network (for example, when you activate a local SIM).
One phone per tourist is exempt:
It is confirmed that tourists can bring one phone per person into the country without having to pay any registration fee.
The maximum number of mobile devices a tourist can bring is four. One (the exempted one) is considered for personal use, while the other three are considered for business use and are always subject to customs duties.
What we don’t know:
It is unclear whether the exemption for tourists is automatic or whether the phone still needs to be registered in the app and then declared exempt.
Other sources suggest that simply declaring the phone at customs is enough. To be safe, we recommend declaring your phone at customs and asking about the registration requirements.
Amount of duties:
If you fall under the registration and duty payment requirement, you may have to pay up to 38.5% of the phone’s value.
How is the fee calculated?
In the Telephony app, you’ll be asked to enter your phone’s IMEI code. Based on this, the app will automatically calculate the amount due, and you’ll be able to pay directly through the app.
No detailed information has been released yet about how the amount is determined.
What changes when using a local SIM or an eSIM?
While it’s still unclear whether all phones must in any case be registered on the Telephony app, if you are a tourist and instead of buying an Egyptian SIM you decide to stay connected using your usual SIM (thus paying your provider’s roaming rates) or using an eSIM, and your stay in Egypt is less than 90 days, you should not have to pay any customs duties on your phone.
However, if once you arrive you decide to buy a local Egyptian SIM card to access the internet, this will start the 90-day grace period for registering your phone and potentially paying the related fees.
We do not know if the 90 days must be consecutive or cumulative. If intermittent connections to the Egyptian network are also counted for tourists, our advice is to change your Egypt eSIM before the 90 days expire.
So, if you plan a one-month vacation in Egypt and activate an eSIM, you shouldn’t have any problems.
If you return to Egypt a second time with the same smartphone and plan to stay for two months and one day, we recommend purchasing a new eSIM instead of reusing the same one (for example, the same Global eSIM), since this could exceed the 90-day limit, even if the days are not consecutive.
Conclusions about phone blocking in Egypt
If you bring one personal phone, stay in Egypt for less than 90 days, and use an eSIM, you should be completely exempt from paying the new smartphone duties, thus avoiding any phone blocking.
It remains unclear whether you must still register your smartphone in the Telephony app.
Our advice is to declare your phone at customs and take the opportunity to ask whether registration is required or not.
We are committed to updating this article whenever new information or confirmed details become available.
Written on October 9, 2025
