How to Choose Your SIM Card in Indonesia

Booking taxis or ride-hailing services for your daily trips, checking GPS directions, making WhatsApp calls to your loved ones: a good SIM card in Indonesia is essential to feel at ease during your stay. There are several ways to get enough mobile data without breaking the bank. Let's go over what's available so you can choose what suits you best.

The eSIM in Indonesia: a modern and practical solution

If you have a recent smartphone that supports this technology, ordering an eSIM for Indonesia will make things much easier. No need to visit a local shop and buy a physical Indonesian SIM card while a vendor tries, more or less successfully, to explain in English how to use it. With this option, you'll simply need to download a dedicated app or send a few text messages to activate your credit. Shopkeepers can sometimes handle this process for you, but you'll struggle to sort things out on your own if the service stops working after a few days. With an eSIM, you're fully independent: the app is available in English, you can track your usage very easily, and you can top up your data without assistance if you go over your quota. The downside of this system is its cost, significantly higher than the other alternatives. To give you an example, Airalo offers 5 GB for 18 euros and 10 GB for 32 euros. Since your accommodation will likely offer free Wi-Fi, 5 GB might be enough to get you through the whole trip if you use it only to communicate with your drivers, though that amount will still be quite tight.

The Indonesian SIM card: the best way to save money

If you're resourceful and know a few words of English, tracking down an Indonesian SIM card once you arrive in the country will save you a significant amount of money. Head to a GraPARI shop for your purchase: these are the official resellers of Telkomsel, the operator, found in every major city across the archipelago. Jakarta, Denpasar, Medan: just ask a taxi driver to take you there. Avoid buying a SIM card at the airport, as the prices there are exorbitant. For reference, Telkomsel offers 20 GB of data for 11 euros, six times cheaper than the plan offered by the eSIM app mentioned in the previous paragraph.

Using your Free plan in Indonesia

If you're a customer of this French carrier and subscribed to the 5G plan at 19.99 euros a month, know that your Free plan in Indonesia gives you access to 35 GB of mobile data in the country. However, you need to be careful not to make calls or send texts, as these aren't included in the package. Another downside, especially for those travelling outside major cities, is that network coverage is much weaker than with Indonesian carriers like Telkomsel or Indosat, making it harder to get signal during countryside excursions. So while it's certainly more convenient not to switch SIM cards and simply rely on your French plan's options, you should be extremely cautious. Any phone call or data overage beyond the included 35 GB will result in a bill that will make you regret not trusting a local service or an eSIM instead. Many travellers have come home to hundreds of euros in unexpected charges, so stay alert.

Do you need to register your phone at the airport in Indonesia?

In recent years, it was mandatory for any tourist to register their phone at the airport in Indonesia and pay a tax based on the device's value: the newer the smartphone, the higher the tax. In recent months, authorities appear to have rolled back this strict regulation, and declaration is no longer required for stays of less than three months. Laws on this matter change very quickly, and this information could be outdated within a few weeks: we'll update this article as the legislation evolves, so feel free to check back regularly. In any case, you won't be affected by this hassle if you opt for an eSIM. The phone gets blocked for non-payment of the tax only when installing a local SIM card, and official shops like GraPARI can help you get everything sorted. Don't bother going through this process at the airport.