Bosnia and Herzegovina SIM Card for Tourists: Prices, No Passport and Which Network Where

Last updated on 30 October 2026

In Bosnia and Herzegovina you can buy a tourist SIM without showing a passport: HT Eronet’s !hej Tourist costs 20 KM (about €10.23) for 20 GB and 30 minutes over 7 days, and m:tel sells a tourist eSIM online for 35 KM (€17.90) with 600 GB, advertised as “without registration”. The POVNOMAD Bosnia and Herzegovina eSIM costs €2.90 for 1 GB over 7 days and €10.90 for 5 GB over 30 days, data only, installed before you fly. As of 29 October 2026.

From about 5 GB upwards the local SIM is cheaper: HT Eronet’s 20 GB cost less than our 5 GB. The eSIM wins for short trips with up to 3 GB and when you want data on landing. What is specific to Bosnia is the network: the country has three operators, and each is rooted in a different part of the country. BH Telecom comes from Sarajevo, HT Eronet from Mostar and m:tel from Banja Luka in the Republika Srpska.

Local SIM, travel eSIM or roaming: what is the difference in Bosnia?

As of 29 October 2026. Operator offers from hteronet.ba, bhtelecom.ba and mtel.ba, POVNOMAD prices from the Bosnia and Herzegovina product page. Converted at the fixed rate of the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina (€1 = 1.95583 KM, exchange rate list No. 213 of 29 October 2026). The convertible mark (KM, ISO code BAM) is pegged to the euro by a currency board.

How much does a tourist SIM card cost in Bosnia and Herzegovina?

All three operators sell packs for visitors. HT Eronet sells its physical starter packs over the counter, BH Telecom and m:tel sell tourist eSIMs online that you pay by card:

Sources: HT Eronet, !hej Tourist, BH Telecom, Tourist ponuda and m:tel, eSIM Turist, all retrieved 29 October 2026. Prices include VAT. Euro amounts at €1 = 1.95583 KM. m:tel loads the validity of its tourist pack in the web shop, which we could not read; ask before you pay.

BH Telecom also sells a physical SIM, the Ultra Start pack, in its shops, at kiosks with the Ultra sticker, at airports and at bus and train stations. Its tourist page gives no price for it. Extra data for BH Telecom tourist lines costs 15 KM (€7.67) for 10 GB over 10 days or 35 KM (€17.90) for 30 GB over 30 days. HT Eronet sells a further 20 GB for 20 KM, or 10 GB for one day at 3 KM (€1.53).

Here is what a whole trip costs with each option, as of 29 October 2026:

All prices retrieved 29 October 2026 from hteronet.ba, bhtelecom.ba, povnomad.com, airalo.com/bosnia-and-herzegovina-esim and esim.holafly.com/de/esim-bosnien-und-herzegowina/. POVNOMAD Unlimited Smart means 1 GB at full speed per 24 hours, then 1 Mbit/s without a cut-off. Airalo also sells unlimited data for Bosnia from €11.00 for 3 days to €67.00 for 30 days.

For a week with light use the eSIM costs less. Once you need 5 GB or more, the HT Eronet pack beats every eSIM offer we checked, and for a month Airalo’s 20 GB at €29.50 also undercuts our €30.90. All plan sizes and durations are in our Bosnia and Herzegovina eSIM provider comparison.

BH Telecom, m:tel or HT Eronet: which network fits which region?

The mobile market was divided along ethnic lines after the war of 1992 to 1995. In the Federation, Sarajevo-based BH Telecom serves the Bosniak-majority areas and Mostar-based HT Eronet the Croat-majority areas, while Banja Luka-based m:tel covers the whole Republika Srpska, according to the US Commercial Service (trade.gov, Bosnia and Herzegovina telecommunications, 4 February 2026). At the end of 2024, BH Telecom had 42.3 percent of mobile subscribers, m:tel 36.2 and HT Eronet 21.1, based on figures from the regulator RAK.

All three received 4G licences from the regulator in April 2019. What we could not find is an independent measurement of signal strength by region. The split tells you where each operator has its roots, not where its signal ends. As a rule of thumb for the shop counter: Sarajevo and central Bosnia are BH Telecom’s home ground, Mostar and Herzegovina HT Eronet’s, Banja Luka and the Republika Srpska m:tel’s.

Bosnia has no commercial 5G. The regulator was expected to tender the licences in 2026, and we found no report of an award by 29 October 2026. Our Bosnia eSIM runs on 4G; the product page names BH Mobile, BH Telecom’s brand, as the example network, and the POVNOMAD app shows which networks your eSIM can use after purchase. We cannot promise access to m:tel or HT Eronet.

Do you need a passport for a Bosnian SIM card?

Not as of 29 October 2026. No law obliges Bosnian operators to identify prepaid buyers. In 2020 BH Telecom said that customers are, as a rule, not identified because prepaid packs are also sold at kiosks, and m:tel said the law does not require it (Paragraf, 14 October 2020). m:tel advertises its tourist eSIM in October 2026 with activation “bez registracije”, without registration.

That may change. On 3 March 2026 the Council of Ministers adopted a bill that makes registration of prepaid users mandatory and sent it to parliament under the regular procedure (Paragraf, 3 March 2026). We found no report that parliament has passed it by 29 October 2026. Carry your passport anyway, in case a shop asks for it.

A travel eSIM bought abroad needs no Bosnian registration, because it joins the network as a roaming guest. Install it at home on Wi-Fi (instructions for iPhone and Android). Validity starts on first contact with the partner network in Bosnia, and you have 120 days after purchase to activate it.

Does a Bosnian SIM work in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia?

In Serbia and Montenegro, yes. The six Western Balkan economies have dropped roaming charges among themselves since 1 July 2021. BH Telecom writes that the data of its tourist packs also works in Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo, as long as your account holds at least 0.08 KM. HT Eronet and m:tel say nothing on this on their tourist pages, so ask in the shop. How the regional agreement and the EU price cap differ is explained in our Balkan eSIM comparison.

Croatia is the catch. It belongs to the EU, not to the Western Balkan agreement, so a Bosnian SIM roams there at foreign rates. The reverse applies to your German contract: on the coast road through Neum and around Dubrovnik your phone can slip onto a Bosnian network and roam outside the EU. Where that happens and how to pick a network by hand is in Border roaming in the Balkans. Our Bosnia eSIM works in Bosnia and Herzegovina only; for Serbia or Montenegro you need a second eSIM, see the Serbia and Montenegro comparisons.

How do you buy the local SIM the right way?

• Pick the operator by region: BH Telecom for Sarajevo, HT Eronet for Mostar and Herzegovina, m:tel for Banja Luka and the Republika Srpska.
• Buy at an operator shop if you want help with the setup. HT Eronet starter packs are also sold at kiosks and petrol stations, BH Telecom SIMs at airports and bus and train stations.
• Check that your phone is unlocked. A phone locked to a German network will not take a Bosnian SIM.
• Activate the HT Eronet pack with a first call, SMS or data session. If data does not start, set the access point to gprs.eronet.ba.
• Ordering the m:tel tourist eSIM online? Make your first call to 444 to activate it and set the access point to mtelfrend, as m:tel instructs.
• Keep your home SIM in a dual-SIM phone, or SMS codes from your bank will not reach you.

When is the eSIM the better choice, and when is it not?

The eSIM is the better deal for a short stay with light use. A week with maps and messaging costs €2.90 for 1 GB or €6.90 for 3 GB, less than any local pack. You are online on landing in Sarajevo or Mostar, and on a day trip from Dubrovnik you skip the kiosk.

The local SIM is the better choice if you need 5 GB or more, want a Bosnian number for calls, or travel on to Serbia or Montenegro and want one SIM for the region. For two weeks, HT Eronet’s 100 GB for 40 KM (€20.45) give you far more data than our 10 GB for €16.90. Our eSIM also gives you no choice of network: it uses the partner networks shown in the app.

Cash is the other cost on arrival. Which Bosnian banks charge foreign cards nothing is in our guide to ATM fees in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Frequently asked questions

This guide is also available in German. Last updated on 29 October 2026. Prices read on that day on hteronet.ba, bhtelecom.ba, mtel.ba, povnomad.com, airalo.com and esim.holafly.com; exchange rate of the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina for 29 October 2026. Prices and rules may change at any time.