Country Information

Country Code: . With the advent of mobile phones, the use of landlines (which were never highly used anyway) is in steep decline. Taxiphones (a sort of metered phone booth) are available to make calls from, but mobiles are used as the primary means of communication.

Mobile phone usage across the country has increased greatly, with the main mobile networks giving good coverage across the country. To take advantage of local rates, buy a cheap foreign SIM card for use in your existing phone.

There are internet cafés in all larger towns and hotels in the major cities are more likely to have in-room Wi-Fi available.

Algeria's TV and radio stations are state-controlled, but there is a lively private press which is often critical of the authorities. Although there is no overt censorship, legislation sets out prison terms and fines for anyone insulting or defaming the president, MPs, judges and the army. Daily newspapers are printed in Arabic or French, and the main French-language dailies are El Watan, Liberté, Le Quotidien d'Oran and La Tribune. One of the leading Arabic-language dailies is El Khabar, whilst another daily, Horizons, has an English section. In terms of TV channels, Enterprise Nationale de Télévision (ENTV) is state-run. The use of satellite dishes is widespread; some satellite TV stations, such as BRTV, a Berber station based in France, target viewers in Algeria, and European channels are widely watched. Algerian Radio, operated by state-run Radio-Télévision Algérienne, runs national Arabic, Berber and French networks, and several local stations.

Mail posted in any of the main cities along the coast takes three to four days to reach Europe; posted elsewhere, it could take much longer. Parcels sent by surface mail may take up to two months to reach Algeria.

Generally Sat-Wed 0800-1700 and Thurs 0800-1200. The main post office in Algiers (5 boulevard Mohamed Khémisti) is open 24 hours.