Smart Moscow - using a mobile phone in Moscow

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Using a Mobile Phone in Moscow

The primary mobile phone standard in Russia is GSM-900 and GSM-1800, which are the leading European standards. This differs from the American CDMA standard. Some U.S. phones are tri-band and can work in Russia. Others may not.

There are three national mobile service providers in Russia.

MTS : www.mts.ru

Beeline : www.beeline.ru

Megafon : www.megafon.ru

MTS and Beeline both have rather complete national coverage with few holes. Megafon has more sparse coverage.

Depending upon the plan that you select, prices typically are 3 rubles ($0.12) per minute for a call to a local telephone.

Signing up for mobile service in Moscow is easy. If you don't have a GSM phone, then you can purchase an inexpensive model for 1500 rubles ($60). In Moscow do not have to purchase an annual contract as is frequently required in other countries. All you have to do is sign up for a "SIM" card. This is the small chip which you insert into the back of the mobile and which provides it's identity. I recently signed up for a new MTS number and paid 190 rubles. Of this I received 90 rubles credit on my number, so the real expense was only 100 rubles ($4).

If you'd like to sign up for MTS, you can go to their central office.

Address : Malaya Dmitrovka 5

Metro : Pushkinskaya

See the map at this link :

http://www.mts.ru/where2buy/addresses/moscow/moscow-offices/dmitrovka/

To sign up for Beeline, you can find their central office at :

Address : 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya ul, 2

Metro : Mayakovsky

It's in the same building as Patio-Pizza and Rostiks, just around the corner.

All mobile services in Russia work on a declining balance system. You deposit money on your account and as it calls, it declines. Once your balance has reached zero, your number is blocked until you top it up again. It's really easy to reload your mobile number. Most ATMs offer the option of paying for mobile with your debit card. If you don't have a debit card, then you can use one of the specialized mobile ATM machines which are distributed throughout the city and accept cash.

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