Do you need to register your phone to use an Egyptian SIM card in Hurghada, and is it better to buy an Orange SIM at the airport or in a city branch?

When choosing an Egyptian SIM, check coverage around where you are staying: Orange can work very well in some areas, while WE is reported to have more consistently broad coverage. Buying from mobile-operator offices in the city is recommended rather than necessarily at the airport.

Another option is skipping the airport or Orange branch entirely: buy a SIM at the first small shop near your hotel, no registration needed. Worked fine for a phone that had never been to Egypt before.

If this phone has not been used in Egypt before, separate registration is usually not required. Travelers report that issues are more likely for people visiting more than once a year, so some alternate between different phones and keep using local SIM cards without problems.

There are cases where a phone had already been used in Sharm El Sheikh the year before, then got a new airport-bought SIM in Hurghada, and the service started working in under an hour. So using the same phone again does not always lead to a block.

A practical approach is to buy an Orange SIM at the airport, since these often start working immediately. If you are unsure about your device, you can visit an Orange branch afterward and have them check whether the SIM slots are blocked. Travelers reported that older phones with previous Egyptian SIMs kept working, and a new phone also activated fine with an airport SIM. As a backup, some consider buying a modem.