Sao Tome and Principe
Power & telecom standards in Sao Tome and Principe
Connectivity Overview
Tempest Telecom offered satellite-only service in Sao Tome and Principe. Iridium satellite Internet and Voice access was available for communications in rural areas without infrastructure.
Sao Tome and Principe uses 220V at 50Hz. Power outlets are type C, F and telephone jacks are RJ-11.
Dial-up Internet Access
Dial-up access was not available in Sao Tome and Principe. Satellite Internet was the recommended alternative.
WiFi Hotspot Access
WiFi hotspot access was not available through Tempest in Sao Tome and Principe.
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.
Sao Tome and Principe at a Glance
- Capital
- Sao Tome
- Phone Code
- +239
- Voltage
- 220V / 50Hz
- Power Plug
- C, F
- Phone Jack
- RJ-11
- Currency
- Dobra
- Dial-up
- N/A
- WiFi
- N/A
About connectivity in Sao Tome and Principe
São Tomé and Príncipe uses 220V/50Hz with Type C and Type F outlets — a legacy of Portuguese colonial wiring standards from the pre-1975 administration. The phone jack is RJ-11. CST (Companhia Santomense de Telecomunicações) and Unitel ST operate the principal fixed and mobile networks; the country code is +239. The currency is the São Tomé Dobra.
The country's 220,000 population spread across two volcanic islands in the Gulf of Guinea shapes infrastructure economics. Commercial Internet began through CST in the late 1990s, with satellite backhaul carrying international traffic until the ACE submarine cable (Africa Coast to Europe) arrived in 2012. The Portuguese-speaking African Lusophone economic relationships (with Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, and Portugal) shape diaspora calling patterns.
Tempest Telecom served São Tomé and Príncipe primarily through Iridium satellite phones for the limited oil-and-gas exploration activity in the Gulf of Guinea (the country's offshore prospects have been actively explored since the 2000s but have produced limited commercial yield to date), the small NGO and aid-program customer base, and the maritime industry transiting the region.
Modern São Tomé and Príncipe has expanding 4G LTE coverage in the capital and larger settlements following the 2012 ACE cable arrival.
Tempest's services across Sao Tome and Principe, 1997–2012
Tempest Telecommunications operated international connectivity services in Sao Tome and Principe between 1997 and 2012 under a unified prepaid account that absorbed multiple service types onto a single customer credential. Customers in Sao Tome and Principe 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 Sao Tome and Principe from approximately 2001 (post-bankruptcy relaunch). Thuraya coverage did not extend to Sao Tome and Principe; Inmarsat BGAN data terminals filled the broadband gap from late 2005.