Magti vs Silknet vs Cellfie: tourist SIMs and mountain coverage in Georgia, the Caucasus country

Part of our Georgia eSIM guide: all articles and key facts →

A Georgia local SIM, in the Caucasus country rather than the US state, costs a fraction of a travel eSIM, and the three operators, Magti, Silknet and Cellfie, all sell cheap data to visitors. The harder question is coverage in the mountains of Kazbegi and Svaneti. We read the three operators' own pages and nPerf's coverage maps on 20 October 2026; here is what they show.

Which Georgian network is best for a visitor?

There is no single winner: Magti is the largest network, Silknet sells the clearest tourist packs, and the measured coverage in the mountains favours a different network in each valley. No independent speed ranking of Georgian networks has been published recently: we found no nPerf barometer and no Opensignal report for Georgia. What can be measured is price, what each pack includes, and where users of the nPerf app have recorded a signal.

• Cheapest unlimited week: Cellfie's All Unlimited plan at 10 lari, or Silknet's Tourist pack at 15 lari.
• Easiest on arrival: Magti's Welcome Package, with a free SIM card at Tbilisi and Kutaisi airports.
• Kazbegi (Stepantsminda): Silknet and Cellfie showed tests in the town on nPerf; Magti only on the road to the south.
• Svaneti (Mestia): only Magti showed tests in the town on nPerf.

If you would rather not visit a shop at all, our comparison of the best eSIMs for Georgia lists the travel eSIMs and the network each one uses.

Magti, Silknet and Cellfie: who are they?

Georgia has three mobile networks, and two of them still appear under older names on eSIM sites. The regulator, the Georgian National Communications Commission (ComCom), counted 6.43 million mobile subscribers, machine-to-machine SIM cards included, and 5.1 million mobile internet users at the end of 2025. It gave MagtiCom 41% of mobile subscribers, Silknet 36%, Cellfie Mobile 23% and the virtual operator Hallo 0.4%, shares it described as "virtually unchanged compared with the previous year", in its Annual Report 2025, published in July 2026.

Revenue tells a similar story. ComCom put retail mobile revenue at 928 million lari in 2025, with Magticom taking 47%, Silknet 35% and Cellfie 18%; in December 2025 the average monthly revenue per user was 17.5 lari at Magticom, 14.4 at Silknet and 10.9 at Cellfie, according to ComCom's annual report page. Cellfie's figure is the lowest of the three.

The names matter when you compare eSIM sites:

• Cellfie is the former Beeline Georgia. VEON sold its Georgian subsidiary to its former local partner in June 2022, and Holafly, nPerf and the database esimdb still use the Beeline name.
• Geocell is Silknet's mobile network: Silknet acquired Geocell in 2018, and Silknet's website still files its mobile offers under "geocell".
• Magti is the brand of MagtiCom, which its tourist page presents as "the best coverage", a marketing claim rather than a measurement.

How much do tourist SIM packs cost in Georgia?

From 6 lari for 15 GB over 7 days at Cellfie, or 10 to 15 lari for a week of unlimited data (about €3.43 to €5.15), far below any travel eSIM we read. Prices are in Georgian lari (GEL, ₾); the National Bank of Georgia's official rate for 20 October 2026 was 2.9128 lari to the euro. All offers below were read on the operators' own pages on 20 October 2026.

For comparison, the cheapest unlimited week we verified from a travel eSIM brand was USD 19.99 at Maya Mobile (€16.99 in its own euro prices), a global plan at full speed for 5 GB a day, more than three times Silknet's Tourist pack; the cheapest Georgia-only unlimited week we verified was Nomad's, at €22.24.

Magti: a free SIM at the airport

Magti's tourist page says to "get FREE SIM card with Welcome Package in Tbilisi or Kutaisi airport". It lists two offers, both valid 15 days. The 30-lari pack includes a free 4.5G SIM card, 3,000 MB of data, 30 minutes of international calls dialled with "00" or "+", free local calls to Magti, Silknet, Cellfie and fixed lines, and free local SMS and MMS. The 15-lari pack includes 5,000 MB and free local SMS and MMS; unlike the 30-lari offer, its list does not mention a free SIM card. The page adds that the SIM works on "2G/3G/4G/4.5G/5G" networks.

Magti does not mention Batumi airport on that page, so if you land there, plan to visit a Magti office in town or use a travel eSIM for the first hours.

Silknet: five tourist packs that renew automatically

Silknet's tourist packages run from 3 to 30 days. All but Tourist Start include unlimited data, and all include some local minutes: 30 for Tourist 3, Tourist and the 15-day Tourist Start, 500 for Tourist 30 and unlimited local minutes for Tourist Unlimited. Two packs add international minutes: 15 with Tourist Start and 30 with Tourist Unlimited. Each pack is activated with a USSD code, for example *017*5*1# for the 7-day Tourist pack, or through the My Silknet app.

Two details deserve attention. Silknet describes every pack as "automatically renewable", so a line with enough balance renews at the end of the period. And once the 4,000 MB of Tourist Start are used, Silknet charges 10 tetri per megabyte for the rest of the period, then 70 tetri per megabyte at the standard price once the pack ends. Tourist Start therefore suits a light user staying up to 15 days who wants a few international minutes; heavier users get more from the unlimited packs.

Cellfie: no tourist page, but cheap unlimited plans

We found no tourist page on Cellfie's website. Its standard prepaid offers, though, are the cheapest of the three operators' offers we read. Cellfie's All Unlimited plan costs 3 lari for 1 day, 10 lari for 7 days, 19 lari for 14 days and 39 lari for 30 days, with unlimited internet, minutes to all networks and SMS. Its internet-only packages include 15 GB for 7 days at 6 lari and 40 GB for 30 days at 20 lari.

Cellfie's 7-, 14- and 30-day plans also prolong automatically when the balance allows it (the 1-day plan does not), so empty the balance or deactivate the plan with the code on its page before you leave. Cellfie's "Travel eSIM", sold on a separate site, is a roaming product for Georgians travelling abroad, not an offer for visitors.

Can you get a Georgian eSIM instead of a plastic SIM?

Yes, all three operators sell eSIMs, but none of their pages we read describes an online purchase made for foreign visitors today. Magti activates a new or existing number on an eSIM "either via the app/web portal MyMagti or at any Magti service center", for 10 lari, according to Magti's eSIM page. Cellfie's eSIM costs 1 lari. Silknet's online shop listed an eSIM at 5 lari with a choice of numbers on 20 October 2026.

Silknet once advertised exactly what a visitor wants: an older page, written for the 2023 freestyle ski championships in Bakuriani, said its eSIM "can be purchased online, from any country" and activated on arrival with a QR code received by e-mail. That page describes a 2023 event offer, and we could not confirm that a foreign buyer can complete the same process now. None of the operator pages we read says which identity document a visitor must show to open a line, so ask at the counter.

A Georgian eSIM still needs a phone that supports two lines if you want to keep your home number active. Check your model on our list of eSIM-compatible phones, and read our guide to running two eSIMs at the same time.

Which network works in Kazbegi (Stepantsminda)?

On nPerf's map, Silknet and Cellfie showed tests in Stepantsminda itself, Silknet with 5G, while Magti showed none in the town, its 4G tests lying mostly on the road to the south. nPerf's coverage maps are built from tests run by users of the nPerf app, kept for two years and filtered to a geolocation precision of 50 metres or better. They show where people actually measured a signal, not a guaranteed coverage area, and an absence of tests is not proof of an absence of signal.

On 20 October 2026, the nPerf map of Stepantsminda showed:

• Silknet: 5G tests along the main road through the town, 4G+ tests along the E117 road to the south and to the north towards Tsdo, and 4G+ tests on the slope west of the town.
• Cellfie (listed as Beeline): 4G+ tests along the E117 in and south of the town, then a stretch marked as no coverage between the north of the town and Tsdo.
• Magti: 4G and 4G+ tests on the road south of the town, near Arsha and Garbani, a few no-coverage points near Tsdo and on the western slope, a single 4G+ point on the E117 north of Tsdo, and no tests in the town itself.

Holafly, which uses Magti and Cellfie, warns on its Georgia page that coverage may be "more limited or unstable" on "some roads around Kazbegi". If Kazbegi is the highlight of your trip, a Silknet or Cellfie line, or a travel eSIM on one of those networks, matches what users have measured.

Which network works in Svaneti (Mestia)?

In Mestia, only Magti showed tests on nPerf's map; we saw none for Silknet or Cellfie in the area shown. On the nPerf map of Mestia, Magti had 4G and 4G+ tests in the town and 3G and 4G tests along the road leading east from it. We loaded the Silknet and Cellfie layers twice on 20 October 2026 and saw no test points at all around Mestia, nor in the Enguri valley to the west for any of the three networks. The map nPerf shows for Mestia places the town at its eastern edge, so it says little about the valley east of the town.

This does not prove that Silknet or Cellfie have no signal in Mestia; it means nobody using nPerf has recorded one there in the period the map covers. Holafly's own page warns of limited or unstable coverage "in the mountainous areas of Svaneti" and "along routes through Tusheti", a region we did not check on nPerf.

For a trek in Svaneti, the safest arrangement is two lines on two networks: for example a Magti tourist SIM bought at Kutaisi airport plus a travel eSIM on Silknet or Cellfie, or the reverse. Download offline maps before you leave the valley floor.

What about the Georgian Military Road and Gudauri?

Along the road between Mleta and the hairpins towards Gudauri, Silknet showed almost continuous 4G+ tests on nPerf and Cellfie 4G+ on most of it, while Magti's were scattered. On the nPerf map around Gudauri, Silknet showed 4G+ tests along nearly the whole road; Cellfie showed 4G+ on most of it, with a 3G stretch further north and a short no-coverage stretch near Mleta; Magti showed only a few 4G tests, with stretches marked as no coverage.

Cellfie also lists the ski resorts of Gudauri and Bakuriani among the places where its 5G is available, alongside Tbilisi, Batumi, Kobuleti, Kutaisi, Rustavi, Poti, Telavi, Gori and Zugdidi, according to Cellfie's 5G page. That is the operator's own statement, not an independent measurement.

What does "unlimited" really mean in Georgia?

Local tourist packs say unlimited without a published daily cap, while travel eSIMs either publish a daily cap or reserve the right to slow you down. Silknet's and Cellfie's unlimited packs list "Unlimited" data and publish no daily threshold on the pages we read. Cellfie's 300 GB Internet Premium package, by contrast, spreads its allowance as 100 GB a month, with unmetered data only between 00:15 and 08:00.

The travel eSIMs are more explicit. Airalo's Eurolink plan, which covers Georgia, slows to 1 Mbps after 5 GB a day. Holafly says operators may apply a fair usage policy "for no more than one (1) day". Yesim says speed "may be limited in accordance with the network operator's Fair Usage Policy". Nomad's Georgia plans give 2 GB a day at full speed, then 1 Mbps, and Maya Mobile's global plan 5 GB a day, then 3 Mbps, according to the plan details on its page. The cheapest daily-allowance plans from small brands on the database esimdb (1 or 2 GB a day) slow to 384 or 128 kbps once that allowance is used, which is too slow for video.

For a visitor, a week of genuinely heavy use, such as video calls and uploading photos every evening, is where a local unlimited pack makes the most sense.

Local SIM or travel eSIM: which should you choose?

A local pack wins on price; a travel eSIM wins on convenience and lets you pick the network before you land. Here is how the choice plays out:

• Short trip, Tbilisi and Batumi only: a travel eSIM bought at home avoids the airport counter. A 3-day unlimited plan cost USD 9.99 at Maya Mobile (a global plan, 5 GB a day at full speed), €9.78 at Nomad and €10.50 to €11.42 at Yesim, Airalo Eurolink and Holafly.
• A week or more, mostly in towns: Silknet's Tourist pack (15 lari for 7 days) or Cellfie's All Unlimited (10 lari) cost a fraction of an eSIM.
• Kazbegi: Silknet or Cellfie, local or through an eSIM that names them, such as Yesim or Nomad (Cellfie and Geocell), Airalo or Ubigi (Cellfie), or aloSIM (Silknet).
• Svaneti: a Magti line, local or through Holafly, which names Magticom, and ideally a second network as backup.

Whatever you choose, your phone must be unlocked to accept a Georgian SIM or eSIM. Read do you need an unlocked phone for a travel eSIM before you travel.

What should you check before landing in Georgia?

Confirm that your phone takes an eSIM and is unlocked, and know which airport counter you will pass. Tbilisi International Airport lies about 17 km south-east of the capital and Kutaisi International Airport about 14 km west of Kutaisi; Magti's page names both for its free tourist SIM.

• Compatible phone: the iPhone 17 range, the Galaxy S25 range and the Pixel 10 range are on our list; check other models on the supported devices page.
• EID: if an operator or eSIM seller asks for it, our guide shows where to find the EID number.
• Problems: if a new eSIM stays on "Activating", see our fixes for an eSIM stuck on activating; if it shows signal but no data, work through 10 fixes for a travel eSIM not working abroad.

How we checked

We read Magti's, Silknet's and Cellfie's own pages on 20 October 2026, rendering Silknet's site in a browser because its offers load with JavaScript, and recorded price, data, validity, renewal and activation codes. Market shares and revenue come from ComCom's Annual Report 2025, published in July 2026. Lari prices are converted at the National Bank of Georgia's official rate for 20 October 2026 (2.9128 lari to the euro).

Coverage observations come from nPerf's crowdsourced maps of Stepantsminda, Mestia and Gudauri, captured on 20 October 2026 for each of the three networks. We did not travel to Georgia, buy the SIM cards or run speed tests ourselves. Operators change their packs often, so check the price at the counter. For the travel eSIM side, see our best eSIM for Georgia comparison.