San Marino
Power & telecom standards in San Marino
Connectivity Overview
Tempest Telecom offered satellite-only service in San Marino. Iridium satellite Internet and Voice access was available for communications in rural areas without infrastructure.
San Marino uses 230V at 50Hz. Power outlets are type C, F, L and telephone jacks are RJ-11.
Dial-up Internet Access
Dial-up access was not available in San Marino. Satellite Internet was the recommended alternative.
WiFi Hotspot Access
WiFi hotspot access was not available through Tempest in San Marino.
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.
San Marino at a Glance
- Capital
- San Marino
- Phone Code
- +378
- Voltage
- 230V / 50Hz
- Power Plug
- C, F, L
- Phone Jack
- RJ-11
- Currency
- Euro
- Dial-up
- N/A
- WiFi
- N/A
About connectivity in San Marino
San Marino uses the Italian electrical standard: 230V/50Hz with Type C, Type F, and Type L outlets. The phone jack is RJ-11. The country code is +378, distinct from Italy's +39 but operationally integrated with Italian telecom infrastructure. The Repubblica di San Marino is the world's oldest extant republic, founded by tradition in 301 CE.
Telecom Italia San Marino (later San Marino Telecom, then operating partnerships) has provided the principal fixed-line service. The microstate's 33,000 population and 61 km2 territory are entirely surrounded by Italy (specifically the Italian regions of Emilia-Romagna and Marche), making the commercial Internet market structurally an extension of the Italian market. Per-minute metered dial-up through the late 1990s, ADSL rollout from the early 2000s, and FTTH from the 2010s tracked the broader Italian timeline.
Tempest Telecom served San Marino as part of its Italian dial-up POP coverage from Bologna and Rimini. The microstate's tourism economy and small but consistent visitor flow shaped prepaid calling-card demand alongside its Italian neighbors. Iridium usage was negligible given the territory's small size and full terrestrial coverage.
Modern San Marino has fiber connectivity through Italian carrier partnerships and full mobile coverage from the Italian networks.
Tempest's services across San Marino, 1997–2012
Tempest Telecommunications operated international connectivity services in San Marino between 1997 and 2012 under a unified prepaid account that absorbed multiple service types onto a single customer credential. Customers in San Marino 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 San Marino from approximately 2001 (post-bankruptcy relaunch). Thuraya coverage did not extend to San Marino; Inmarsat BGAN data terminals filled the broadband gap from late 2005.