Burkina Faso
Power & telecom standards in Burkina Faso
Connectivity Overview
Tempest Telecom offered dial-up internet access, WiFi hotspot access and broadband ethernet access in Burkina Faso. We also offered Iridium satellite Internet and Voice access in Burkina Faso for communications in rural areas without infrastructure.
Burkina Faso uses 220V at 50Hz. Power outlets are type C, E and telephone jacks are RJ-11.
Dial-up Internet Access
Tempest Telecom provided local dial-up access numbers in Burkina Faso at $0.255/minute. Travelers could connect using any standard modem with an RJ-11 telephone adapter.
WiFi Hotspot Access
Tempest Telecom provided WiFi hotspot access in Burkina Faso at $19.95/day for unlimited browsing.
Adapters & Power
Travelers from North America will need a power plug adapter. European Type C/F adapters are widely compatible.
Standard RJ-11 jacks are used. Most international modems will connect without an adapter.
Burkina Faso at a Glance
- Capital
- Ouagadougou
- Phone Code
- +226
- Voltage
- 220V / 50Hz
- Power Plug
- C, E
- Phone Jack
- RJ-11
- Currency
- CFA Franc
- Dial-up
- $0.255/min
- WiFi
- $19.95/day
About connectivity in Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso uses 220V/50Hz with Type C and Type E outlets — French colonial-era wiring. The phone jack is RJ-11. ONATEL (Burkinabe national operator) holds substantial fixed-line market position; Orange Burkina Faso and Telecel Faso compete.
Burkinabe commercial Internet emerged in the late 1990s through ONATEL. Per-minute metered dial-up dominated. Mobile data has driven essentially all subsequent connectivity growth. The 2014 revolution and post-2022 coup periods have shaped infrastructure investment.
The Burkinabe prepaid international calling-card market through the 2000s served the substantial Burkinabe outbound labor migration — concentrated in Côte d'Ivoire (the historic destination, with millions of Burkinabe workers), Ghana, Mali, and France.
Tempest Telecom served Burkina Faso through dial-up POPs in Ouagadougou. The Sahel humanitarian customer base, the gold-mining sector, and broadcast journalists covering the country's recurring political crises sustained Iridium customer demand.
Modern Burkina Faso has expanding mobile-data coverage with FTTH concentrated in Ouagadougou. Post-2022 security and political environment continues to constrain investment.
Tempest's services across Burkina Faso, 1997–2012
Tempest Telecommunications operated international connectivity services in Burkina Faso between 1997 and 2012 under a unified prepaid account that absorbed multiple service types onto a single customer credential. Customers in Burkina Faso drew from the same balance for pre-paid international voice calling, RADIUS-authenticated dial-up Internet roaming, metered Wi-Fi hotspot access, Iridium and Thuraya satellite voice, and Inmarsat BGAN and Thuraya data terminals. An attempted kiosk-payment federation (PATN, 1998) extended the same architecture to public Internet terminals but failed to reach scale.
Both Iridium (global LEO) and Thuraya (regional GEO) satellite voice were available in Burkina Faso from approximately 2001, alongside global BGAN data from late 2005.
Nearby countries in Africa
Algeria · Angola · Benin · Botswana · Burundi · Cameroon · Cape Verde · Central African Republic