Best eSIM for Madagascar 2026
Madagascar's biggest network changed its name two years ago and most travel guides haven't caught up. More useful than the rebrand, though: checked against Siima's own live prices, the worldwide eSIM plan is actually cheaper than the Madagascar-only one for anything under 5GB — the local plan only pulls ahead once you're buying 10GB or more. Here's what to buy, by network and by data tier.
Yas vs Orange vs Airtel — and the one that changed its name
If you've read an older roundup of Madagascar's networks, it probably says "Telma." Telma Madagascar rebranded to Yas in late November 2024 and kept its position as the country's largest operator in the process, with roughly half of all subscribers and the deepest reach into smaller towns off the main highways. Orange Madagascar holds a strong second at around 30% share, matching Yas closely in the bigger cities. Airtel runs a distant third, close to 7%, and sticks mostly to Antananarivo and the other major towns. A fourth player, SpaceX's Starlink, launched commercially in the country in mid-2024 and has reportedly picked up around 10% of the internet market since — mostly fixed home and lodge connections rather than anything a phone eSIM rides on, but it's a sign of how thin the fixed-line alternative to mobile data still is here.
| Network | Profile | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Yas (formerly Telma) | Market leader by subscribers, renamed from Telma in November 2024; the deepest build into provincial towns of the three. | Everywhere, especially outside the capital |
| Orange | A close second in the cities, with its own 4G and limited 5G build concentrated around Antananarivo. | Antananarivo and the larger coastal cities |
| Airtel | Smallest of the three by share, strongest where it exists — the main urban centers. | City-based trips, not a rural safety net |
Industry estimates put 4G at reaching roughly 71% of the population with overall mobile signal availability (any generation) closer to 92% — the gap between those two numbers is mostly 2G and 3G in rural areas, where a call and a text work but a map tile loads slowly. 5G exists only in pockets of Antananarivo on Yas's network, launched back in 2020 but still held to single-digit population coverage by permit and build delays from the regulator, ARTEC. None of this changes which network your eSIM lands on — Siima's roaming partner handles that automatically — but it sets honest expectations for what "coverage" means once you're off the capital's main roads.
Under 5GB, buy worldwide. Over 10GB, buy local.
Most of this series recommends the single-country plan as the cheaper option, and most of the time that's true. Madagascar is the exception, and it's worth checking before you buy rather than assuming the usual rule holds.
| Plan size | Madagascar-only | Worldwide (104 countries) | Cheaper option |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1GB / 7 days | $15.61 | $13.06 | Worldwide |
| 2GB / 15 days | $27.57 | $24.82 | Worldwide |
| 3GB / 30 days | $38.01 | $34.58 | Worldwide |
| 5GB / 30 days | $58.15 | $56.79 | Worldwide (barely) |
| 10GB / 30 days | $88.13 | $103.90 | Madagascar-only |
| 20GB / 30 days | $157.87 | $186.34 | Madagascar-only |
The crossover sits between the 5GB and 10GB tiers. There's a real upside to the worldwide plan beyond the price, too: if your trip to Madagascar connects through a stopover in Johannesburg, Nairobi or Paris, the same eSIM keeps working there, which the Madagascar-only plan obviously won't. Siima doesn't currently sell a regional Africa-only plan on the site despite one existing in the underlying catalogue — that switch is off while a separate availability decision is pending — so worldwide is the only multi-country option today.
A local SIM wants a counter. A travel eSIM doesn't.
Buying a prepaid SIM from Yas, Orange or Airtel as a visitor means finding an official shop, producing ID, and waiting — not a long process by regional standards, but one more stop on a first day that's usually built around getting to a hotel or straight onto the RN7 toward the parks.
A Madagascar eSIM installed before departure skips that stop entirely — it's already tied to your Siima order and live the moment you land at Ivato.
Coverage by destination
How much data do you need in Madagascar?
Most Madagascar trips are a mix of a few days in the capital and a loop through one or two national parks, with data use concentrated in towns and dropping off on the road between them.
| Trip type | Recommended data |
|---|---|
| Long weekend in Antananarivo only | 1 GB |
| A week: Tana plus one national park (Andasibe or Ranomafana) | 2–3 GB |
| The full RN7 loop: Tana to Isalo and back | 3–4 GB |
| Add a Nosy Be beach extension | +1–2 GB |
| Two-plus weeks covering the highlands and the coast | 5–8 GB |
The US State Department rates Madagascar Level 2, "Exercise Increased Caution," as of a December 2025 update — it had briefly gone to Level 3 in September 2025 during a period of protests and political unrest, then came back down once that settled. The advisory flags crime, including armed robbery after dark and on remote roads in the south and west, plus periodic strikes and protest activity, particularly around elections, and notes that medical care is limited outside the main cities. None of that is a reason to skip the trip; it's a reason to arrange road travel through a known guide or tour operator rather than driving the RN7 solo after dark.