After moving into a new apartment, getting a home broadband in PLovdiv is one of the top priorities of all expats, especially digital nomads who work remotely. The good news is this: Bulgaria has one of the fastest internet speeds in Europe, and getting a home broadband connection in Plovdiv is relatively easy. Here you will find all the information you need to get started.
The process for setting up a home broadband connection in Plovdiv is no different to how it is in other cities. However, you may be asking yourself questions such as: How much will it cost, how fast will it be? Which companies provide home broadband service in Plovdiv?, How do I get started? Etc.. Keep reading, we are more than happy to answer those questions.
In a nutshell, all you need to do is finding a reliable broadband provider, choose how fast internet you need, and apply for it at your local shop. It's really that easy. In a business day or two, you should be able to access the internet.
There are three major internet service providers in Plovdiv and throughout Bulgaria. These are A1, Vivacom, and Bulsatcom. You may come across other companies if you Google, but those are the oldest ones that dominate the market. Every one of them offers a wide selection of packages. Depending on the area you live, they all offer superfast fibre internet. These companies also provide mobile internet packages, as well as TV services. By combining services from the same company, each service will become cheaper. We'll take a closer look at these companies and find out what services they currently provide.
A1 Bg
A1 Bulgaria (formerly known as Mtel) is one of the most popular GSM operators in Bulgaria. A1 has built several types of networks. It was the first company to introduce GSM, GPRS, HSPA, HSPA+ and LTE in Bulgaria. They also have fiber optic internet coverage in nearly all major cities. A1 announced their Direct-To-Home TV service in 2012 after a lot of television commercials. In 2016, A1 began offering IPTV (marketed as interactive television), CATV (Community Antenna), HSPA (High Speed Package Access), HSPA+, LTE and fiber internet (up to 1 Gbit/s) based on the location of the viewer.
Here is what you can expect to pay for home broadband with A1 Bg:
A1 Bg has 17 shops across Plovdiv. Click here to see them all.
Vivacom
Vivacom is Bulgaria's largest telecommunications company, and a former state-owned incumbent. A fully integrated operator, Vivacom provides mobile, fixed line, fixed broadband, and pay TV (both IPTV and DTH) on a national scale to private and business customers. Fixed-line services are provided over copper and fibre network infrastructures, while mobile services are provided over GSM/GPRS/EDGE, UMTS/HSPA+/LTE.
Prices (per month) for home broadband based on a two-year contract:
Bulsatcom
Bulgarian satellite television, internet and mobile operator Bulsatcom was established in 2000, as the first DVB-S operator in the country. The company entered the internet service provision market in 2009, and since 2015 it has been providing 4G LTE mobile data services as well. In early 2015, the company added IPTV services to its product portfolio and became Bulgaria's largest pay-TV provider.
Bulsatcom's average home broadband prices per month are as follows:
Conclusion:
The internet in Bulgaria is one of the fastest and cheapest in Europe, so once you get one of the services mentioned above you should have no issues with speed or affordability. But one thing you need to keep in mind is the price flexibility based on your contract period and extra services you choose. Getting your Bulgarian sim from the same company can reduce your broadband costs by almost 50%. In the event that you plan to stay in Plovdiv for a long period, getting your broadband with a 24 month contract will result in lower prices than a 12 month contract.
For this subject, that is all there is to say. The price tables we provided above are valid for November 2021 and they may get cheaper or more expensive based on the date of your application. In addition, we do not have any business relationship with those companies nor do we receive any payment for directing you to their websites. Everything we display here is for reference purposes only for people who have moved to Plovdiv from abroad.
Regards to those who read this. Please comment below if we have missed anything or if you need further assistance with getting broadband in Plovdiv.
Have a great time in Plovdiv!
UPDATE AFTER 6 MONTHS:
Between them all companies mentioned above, we decided to go for A1 and popped into one of their branches in Mall Plovdiv. The person who served us was a good English speaker and understood our needs.
While all we need is home broadband and a SIM card, he convinced us to get a TV service which would allow us to watch over 100 international TV channels. The reason he was pushing us to get this deal was an ongoing offer which would result in us paying half price for the services we get. (Seriously; getting only broadband and a SIM card was more expensive than getting broadband, SIM card and TV service at that time) That all sounded reasonable and we had signed a two year contract with them. Just after that happened he said we'll have a slightly higher bill on our first month as installation fee and first time user taxes. That sounded a bit shady but we had already signed the contract and the word ''slightly higher'' didn't scare us. Surprisingly on the very next day the technicians visited us and our internet, SIM cards and TV box were all up and running. So far so good.
What happened next?:
Our first bill was twice as more than what we agreed for. That wasn't slightly higher, it was double. When we go to the shop in order to question this, we have learnt that as a first time customer, we pay taxes and installation fees for each service that we get separately. The person who served us a month before was fully aware of this but he didn't make it clear.
6 months later our bill got 50% higher. We went to the shop again and asked what was that about. Appearantly, that extra TV service that we got for a cheaper rate was only a 6 month long offer. It wasn't clarified when we got the deal.
Another 6 months have passed (recently) and we were about to move to a different flat. As we work from home, having an internet connection in our new flat as soon as we move in was crucial. Knowing that, we went to the shop and applied for internet transfer service a week in advance. We have been told that we would get a phone call from technicians in a day or two in order to arrange the exact time. As soon as we left the shop we received an e-mail that we applied for transfer service and telling us that we should pay 20 BGN for this in our next bill. 5 days have passed but we didn't receive any call so we went to shop again to tell this. The person who was dealing with us was very polite and tried to help us to fix this issue. He checked our account and made a phone call to somewhere. After the phone conversation he said, it's all done and they would call us today to arrange a time for tomorrow's visit. It was Saturday and we didn't receive such a call. We have already moved to our new flat and we had to be online Monday to able to work.
Sunday afternoon we went to the only open branch in the city and told everything to the guy who works there. We explained how urgent it was and begged for help. He checked our account and told us there was no appointment on our name for such a request. We were shocked. Than he suggested us to get a mobile internet router which works with simcard and it would be ready to connect to the internet as soon as we get home. In the meantime he said he would make sure that he would send some technicians to our new address for our home broadband installation the very next day. Even though we don't need it, we didn't have another choice and we had to get it. Obviously it costs money and extra taxes. Also we needed to sign a contract for this which was minimum 2 years. Our monthly fees were rising and we asked him how could we avoid this. And guess what? He suggested us buying some services or upgrading our contract to a different one so the costs would be down. That's exactly what we did.
A month later when our bill reached we were shocked again. We had to pay those first time users' taxes once again for all the services we got separately.
We're happy with the performances and allowances of all the services we got from A1 but those tricky offers, their miscommunication with their team and unclarified fees cost us roughly another 400 BGN more than what we were happy to pay so far.
Last thoughts: We won't stay on A1 after our contract ends. We suggest you make sure to understand every piece and bit of the offers they make before signing the contract if you need those services from any provider.
