Moldova
Power & telecom standards in Moldova
Connectivity Overview
Tempest Telecom offered dial-up internet access, WiFi hotspot access and broadband ethernet access in Moldova. We also offered Iridium satellite Internet and Voice access in Moldova for communications in rural areas without infrastructure.
Moldova uses 220V at 50Hz. Power outlets are type C, F and telephone jacks are RJ-11.
Dial-up Internet Access
Tempest Telecom provided local dial-up access numbers in Moldova at $0.155/minute. Travelers could connect using any standard modem with an RJ-11 telephone adapter.
WiFi Hotspot Access
Tempest Telecom provided WiFi hotspot access in Moldova 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.
Moldova at a Glance
- Capital
- Chisinau
- Phone Code
- +373
- Voltage
- 220V / 50Hz
- Power Plug
- C, F
- Phone Jack
- RJ-11
- Currency
- Leu
- Dial-up
- $0.155/min
- WiFi
- $19.95/day
About connectivity in Moldova
Moldova uses 220V/50Hz with Type C and Type F outlets. The phone jack is RJ-11. Moldtelecom, the state-controlled fixed-line operator, holds substantial market position. Orange Moldova and Moldcell compete in mobile.
Moldovan commercial Internet emerged in the mid-1990s through Moldtelecom and limited private ISPs. Per-minute metered dial-up dominated the late 1990s. ADSL rolled out through the early 2000s; mobile data dominates current Internet access. The country's breakaway Transnistria region operates a separate telecom infrastructure under InterDnestrCom.
Moldtelecom cardphone deployment was modest. The Moldovan prepaid international calling-card market through the 2000s and 2010s served the substantial Moldovan outbound diaspora — among the highest per-capita outbound migration rates in Europe, with concentrations in Russia, Italy (one of the largest Moldovan communities in the EU), Romania, France, and the United Kingdom (especially post-2007 EU accession via Romanian citizenship).
Tempest Telecom served Moldova through dial-up POPs in Chișinău. Iridium satphones served limited agricultural and humanitarian customer bases plus broadcast journalist coverage of the Transnistria conflict frozen since 1992.
Modern Moldova has expanding 4G LTE coverage and FTTH from Moldtelecom and Starnet in Chișinău. 5G rollout began in 2023.
Tempest's services across Moldova, 1997–2012
Tempest Telecommunications operated international connectivity services in Moldova between 1997 and 2012 under a unified prepaid account that absorbed multiple service types onto a single customer credential. Customers in Moldova 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 Moldova from approximately 2001, alongside global BGAN data from late 2005.
Nearby countries in Europe
Lithuania · Luxembourg · Macedonia · Malta · Monaco · Netherlands · Norway · Poland