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cell phones in russia
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Posted by: heyjimi

Hi ,
does anyone know what cell phones work in Russia(Moscow).or what to do to get a cell phone to work over there,? thanks for any help
jim

Posted by: ira156

Quote:

Originally Posted by heyjimi

Hi ,
does anyone know what cell phones work in Russia(Moscow).or what to do to get a cell phone to work over there,? thanks for any help
jim

Just take your phone with you Jimi and get a pre paid sim card once you get there. Cheers

Posted by: EasyTarget

You need to make sure you have a GSM compatible mobile phone. Any phone from cingular - AT&T should work. Verizon's CDMA phones will not work in Russia.

To get the phone work, you can go to a local mobile phone office place like beeline, and you can buy a prepaid SIM card. Then you will have a local Russian phone number.

Also make sure you bring your charger and a European plug adapter.

Posted by: disculmawsu

Quote:

Originally Posted by heyjimi

Hi ,
does anyone know what cell phones work in Russia(Moscow).or what to do to get a cell phone to work over there,? thanks for any help
jim

Thanks for asking this question! I am considering having a cell phone in Russia mainly so I can keep in contact with my clients and with my employer while I am in Russia. I remembered that there was number of items concerning cellphones in Russia, but could not find all of them in various posts.
My plan is buy a cheap used GSM telephone on Ebay and take it with me went I go and buy a SIM locally. I looked at renting a phone (cost between 59.00 USD and 99.00 USD per month) and decided that would a wise investiment to either a used telephone or a cheap new phone.
Are many service providers in Russia or just a few? What are the rates generally for cell phones - for both local and international (the rates I have seen on the web about 2.00 - 2.50 USD per minute for international calls)?

Posted by: Seaview

http://www1.mtsgsm.com/tariffs/

http://eng.megafon.ru/main/tariffs/

Tariffs of the most popular Russian mobile providers.

Posted by: GoingToRussia

You also must your service provider "unlock" your phone. I understand where you buy your sim card, they can unlock it but I don't know this for sure. Your phone will work without a sim card but you will be paying your countries prices which are more expensive then a Russian sim card.

Posted by: disculmawsu

Thanks to everyone for the helpful responses to my question.
I found a place a sells Magfon SIMs on web. I am little nervous about buying from them, and at the same time not sure I deal with Russian salesclerks with five or six words of Russian I pronouce correctly

(it is actually more, but this is my standard joke). There is no rush so I will think about it.
Thanks all for advice and support on this subject.

Posted by: Ellen

Quote:

Originally Posted by disculmawsu

Thanks to everyone for the helpful responses to my question.
I found a place a sells Magfon SIMs on web. I am little nervous about buying from them, and at the same time not sure I deal with Russian salesclerks with five or six words of Russian I pronouce correctly

(it is actually more, but this is my standard joke). There is no rush so I will think about it.
Thanks all for advice and support on this subject.

Don't worry about your Russian There is at least one sale clerk in each cell -phone office who speaks English enough for selling you that Sim card.
BTW I would advice you to buy MTS Sim card . Megafone is known here like a provider which has more "holes" -spots where its service is not avalable. ( for MOscow it's some places in countrysides, some underground stations and etc)

Posted by: EasyTarget

I would buy the sim card when in Russia. This way they can unlock the phone if need be. Also if no one in the store speaks English, walk a couple of blocks to the next store, and find someone who does. Besides you would be amazed at how finger pointing and holding the phone up, and they will understand. It will be pretty obvious what you want to do. :-)

Posted by: Chrismc

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ellen

I used MTS and Beeline in Moscow, but they didn't seem to work aswell in Ufa for some reason?

Posted by: ira156

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ellen

Nat says the same about megafone...but i had it on my 2 trips and had no problems in Moscow or St Petes....i couldnt hear a thing in the Metros over the trains anyway...he he.

Posted by: disculmawsu

Thanks to everyone for advice on choosing a cell provider.
I am buying an unlocked telephone, so that should not be a problem. I will take the collective advice and wait until I arrive to purchase the SIM.

Posted by: deccie

My last trip to St Pete's was funny as far as my mobile phones go.

I took the phone I use in Oman that has global roaming enabled through the local Omani company - this worked fine in St Pete's for sms sending and receiving.

I also took my Australian mobile phone which also has global roaming enabled.
This did NOT work in Russia but did work in Europe.

Since I had been out of Australia for several months by then when I got to Europe and turned it on there were rather a lot of messages!

So, global roaming might also work for you, but then again, it might not too!

Posted by: sidney

I work at a global Co and they travel all over the world. It is difficult for them in that they never know in which country their phone will function. Oft times it is opposite of what you would think. For example everything worked in S Korea but there were places in europe that they did not work.
Sid

Posted by: disculmawsu

Thanks for suggest of a global roaming. Since I plan on spending most of my time in future in Russia (except for month next summer in Ukraine and I 'll think about having cell phone there next spring), I think I will stick with suggestion of buying a local SIM in Russia. Plus the exercise will force me to learn to pronounce five or six new words in addition to the five or six I able to pronounce now

Posted by: Ellen

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chrismc

I used MTS and Beeline in Moscow, but they didn't seem to work aswell in Ufa for some reason?

Ufa is some far from Moscow and roming would cost you a lot ( I'm sure there is MTS Net in Ufa as well) It's better to buy local Sim card in Ufa in addition to Moscow one ( if you are going to visit both cities)

Posted by: Chrismc

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ellen

Yes Ellen it would have been better to buy a sim over there. I tried MTS but was not that good on my phone and you are correct, roaming did cost me a fortune.

Posted by: disculmawsu

Just more question about cellphones (I promise).
My advisor sent me a list of the travel points about Russia and most of them I familiar with most of advice since I have traveled to Russia before, but one thing I did not know is that one needs to request permission to bring a cell telephone into the country and needs to sign a service contract with company before entering the country.
Perhaps someone will comment on (maybe someone knows someone who works for a cell phone company in Russia or in the Russian Custom Service) on this point.

Posted by: EasyTarget

Never heard of needing permission to bring a personal cell phone with you or having to sign up for a contract. seems fishy.

Posted by: GoingToRussia

You don't need to sign a sevice contract or ask permission to bring a cell phone into Russia. I brought a cell phone into Russia everytime I went and never had a problem. It sounds like someone is trying to sell you service you dont need but they would benefit from this. Trust me ... don't buy one and enjoy yourself! Happy landings!

Posted by: disculmawsu

Thanks for the advice on the cell phone issue. I was able to track down the source of the information that my advisor (I don't wish to bother her too much).
The source of her recommendation is http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips...ional_1176.html. Interesting this page no appears to exist and so may no longer apply.
I am going to check with the Department of State on this issue.

Posted by: disculmawsu

I found the webpage about cell phones. The correct address is http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_...s/cis_1758.html

Posted by: EasyTarget

Well I am shocked. The US state dept claims you need to have permission. The GPS thing I knew about; cell phones that one surprised me. Really I don't think the Russian customs folks will bother you on this one. Just don't be using your cell phone while your in line waiting to clear customs.