If you hold a French plan: roaming rules and the fair-use catch
Arcep, the French telecoms regulator, says the roam-like-at-home rules apply to communications between metropolitan France and its overseas departments and collectivities, naming Guyane, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Réunion, Mayotte, Saint-Martin, Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon. It says operators may set a reasonable-use limit on mobile internet on certain offers, with data above that limit charged at wholesale-capped rates, while calls and SMS included in the plan must remain available without volume restrictions.
One French operator's help page for its Caribbean brand illustrates how the fair-use test works. It says a subscriber from metropolitan France gets voice, SMS and mobile data included in the plan on the same terms as at home, but usage must be reasonable over a four-month period, meaning usage and days of presence in Europe or the overseas departments must be lower than at home. If the test is failed, supplementary charges can apply to future roaming. That is one operator's rule rather than a universal one, so read your own terms.
If your plan is from another country
The sources we opened deal with French plans, and Arcep describes the French overseas rules as applying to communications within France. We could not confirm from them how a plan sold in another EU country is treated in Martinique, so read the roaming terms of your home operator for the specific destination, since operators often list overseas territories separately from the main EU zone. The European Commission's roaming pages name EU member states, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Moldova and Ukraine as the covered countries.
If your home operator excludes Martinique, a local prepaid SIM or an eSIM bought in advance is the usual alternative. Install any eSIM on Wi-Fi at home before you travel.
Buying a local prepaid card: ID is mandatory
Orange's French shop guide says that activating a prepaid SIM requires an identity document, and has done since 2016. It lists national ID cards, passports and residence permits as acceptable, and says prepaid cards can be bought in operator boutiques, supermarkets, kiosks and tobacconists, with cash top-ups possible in physical outlets. Martinique is part of France, so the same identification rule should apply there, although the guide describes the mainland network of outlets rather than Martinique's.
For a visitor the sensible plan is to bring the passport to an operator shop, ask for activation on site and check that the SIM works before leaving. The shop guide notes activation takes minutes through the operator's site or app once the identity step is done.
The February 2025 5G launch
On 18 February 2025 Arcep granted frequency authorisations in Martinique and Guadeloupe to Digicel AFG, Free Caraïbe, Orange and Outremer Telecom in the 700 MHz and 3.4 to 3.8 GHz bands immediately and in the 900 MHz band from 1 May 2025. La 1ère reported on 19 February that Orange and SFR were the first to activate 5G, with SFR in Fort-de-France, Le Lamentin, Schoelcher, Sainte-Luce and Le Robert, and Orange in Fort-de-France, Le Lamentin, Schoelcher and Trinité.
Orange's own deployment page later said 5G was deployed in 13 Martinique communes, with 203 4G sites and 15 5G sites operational as of April 2025. It adds that coverage varies with season, weather and user numbers and that building materials affect indoor reception. A compatible phone and plan are needed to use 5G.
A 5G icon is therefore most likely around Fort-de-France and the central communes; elsewhere, 4G is the safer assumption.
What independent measurement says about the four networks
The nPerf 2026 barometer, based on measurements between 1 September 2025 and 31 August 2026, gave Orange the top 4G coverage index in Martinique at 98.24 per cent, ahead of SFR Caraïbe at 97.49, Free at 96.00 and Digicel at 95.67. For 5G, it placed SFR Caraïbe first at 64.04, Orange at 55.09, Digicel at 18.62 and Free at 10.06. nPerf is a network-measurement company, and its index is not a regulator's coverage statistic.
By area, nPerf's 5G figure was highest in Fort-de-France at 55.4 per cent and lowest in Saint-Pierre at 16.3, with 4G between 94.3 and 98 per cent across the zones it measured. In short, 4G is close to universal and the choice of operator matters mostly for 5G, which is concentrated in the capital area.
Emergency numbers and a data-only eSIM
France's civic information site lists 15 for medical emergencies, 17 for police, 18 for firefighters and 112 as the European emergency number, with 114 for people who are deaf or hard of hearing and 196 for maritime rescue. It adds that calls are free and that emergency services call back from 0 800 112 112, which is not spam.
Because 112 is the European number that covers every type of emergency, test voice on your line after you activate it.
Adding a local eSIM beside your home line
Apple says an iPhone must be unlocked for a travel eSIM and that you pick the data line under Settings, Cellular. Google says Pixel 3a and later models support one physical SIM and one eSIM, and Samsung describes SIM manager. If your home plan already covers Martinique, you may not need anything extra. Our Martinique plan page is there if it does not.
Networks our Martinique plans use
These are the operators named on our plans for Martinique, taken from the plan data, so the list follows the catalogue.
- Digicel4G
- Orange5G
- Orange Caraibe4G