Holy See (Vatican)
Power & telecom standards in Holy See (Vatican)
Connectivity Overview
Tempest Telecom offered satellite-only service in Holy See (Vatican). Iridium satellite Internet and Voice access was available for communications in rural areas without infrastructure.
Holy See (Vatican) uses 230V at 50Hz. Power outlets are type F, L and telephone jacks are RJ-11.
Dial-up Internet Access
Dial-up access was not available in Holy See (Vatican). Satellite Internet was the recommended alternative.
WiFi Hotspot Access
WiFi hotspot access was not available through Tempest in Holy See (Vatican).
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.
Holy See (Vatican) at a Glance
- Capital
- Vatican City
- Phone Code
- +39-06
- Voltage
- 230V / 50Hz
- Power Plug
- F, L
- Phone Jack
- RJ-11
- Currency
- Euro
- Dial-up
- N/A
- WiFi
- N/A
About connectivity in Holy See (Vatican)
Vatican City uses the Italian electrical standard: 230V/50Hz with Type F and Type L outlets. Phone jacks are RJ-11. The Vatican Telephone Service operates the internal network across the 0.49 km2 enclave; external telephony connects through Italian carrier interconnects, and the country code is the Italian +39-06 numbering range rather than a distinct international prefix.
The Vatican has historically participated in commemorative phonecard issues alongside Italian SIP / Telecom Italia, with Vatican-themed cards becoming a substantial niche in Italian phonecard collecting through the 1990s and 2000s. Vatican Internet access has run through commercial providers (originally Telecom Italia, later various competitive carriers) at standard Italian retail rates. Vatican Radio is one of the world's oldest international broadcasters (founded 1931).
Tempest Telecom served Vatican City as part of its Italian dial-up POP coverage. The compact size of the territory meant essentially all customers were addressed by the Italian connectivity options.
Modern Vatican City has fiber connectivity to and across the territory and full mobile coverage from the Italian carriers.
Tempest's services across Holy See (Vatican), 1997–2012
Tempest Telecommunications operated international connectivity services in Holy See (Vatican) between 1997 and 2012 under a unified prepaid account that absorbed multiple service types onto a single customer credential. Customers in Holy See (Vatican) drew from the same balance for pre-paid international voice calling, RADIUS-authenticated dial-up Internet roaming, metered Wi-Fi hotspot access, Iridium satellite voice, and Inmarsat BGAN data terminals. An attempted kiosk-payment federation (PATN, 1998) extended the same architecture to public Internet terminals but failed to reach scale.
Iridium satellite voice was available in Holy See (Vatican) from approximately 2001 (post-bankruptcy relaunch). Thuraya coverage did not extend to Holy See (Vatican); Inmarsat BGAN data terminals filled the broadband gap from late 2005.