Difficulty For An American In Moscow?

[TheSquid]

Hi everyone,

(Note: I go by SQFreak on HoFo and WirelessAdvisor, but this forum wouldn't authorize that account.)

I'm going to Russia as a student this summer for five weeks in Moscow and one week in St. Petersburg. For reasons that have been explained to me, I'd like to get a prepaid mobile while I'm there that will work in both cities. I've heard it can be difficult for an American to get a prepaid mobile in Russia. Does anyone who's done it know the best way to go about it, the right type of plan, the company that's most helpful to English-speakers (I speak some Russian, but I'm not near fluent.), etc.?

Thanks!

[Asick]

I guess you should check this thread - http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=513 , it's long enough so there you may find all the answers that you need. Although it's about a year passed since the time the thread got started, there's nothing actually changed. I still recommend you to pick the Единый (Ediny) tariff from MegaFon in Moscow, and a local St.Petersburg SIM from any operator + a calling card to call the States. Will you need to call local Russian numbers often? Well, if you need some help with Russian (constructing the phrases that you'd use during a SIM purchase), I'd gladly help.

[TheSquid]

The phone is more for emergencies than anything else unless calls to the US are very cheap.

I'd be buying a phone in Russia to avoid dealing with Russian bureaucracy more than I have to. The US State Department says that to bring in a cell phone, you have to have a letter of guarantee from the service provider as well as a certification that you'll pay for it, and send it to the Glavgossvyaznadzor to get permission to bring it in, then declare it in customs. So to use the phone on two different networks, I'd have to get it unlocked in Russia, which I'd imagine isn't easy. Correct?

[Asick]

You may use Единый tariff from MegaFon Moscow to call the States, it's about $0.11/min, isn't it so expensive? I guess it's cheap enough. Calling the States using other tariffs and operators is usually much more expensive. The alternative is a calling card, it's $0.03-$0.12/min to the States via a local landline access number.

The things you saying about the Госсвязьнадзор's permissions and so on sound very strange to me. I have never heard a foreigner had any problems with bringing her or his cellular phone into Russia for last 4-5 years and carrying it back home. Some people from this forum or their friends did successfully visit Russia having their cellular phone with them and had no problems. I guess you are talking about the very outdated law: before February 2000 Russians had to register their cellular phones for Госсвязьнадзор too, and any border crossing was a problem both for Russians and foreigners because border guards could have asked for a Госсвязьнадзор permission. The permissions, as I wrote, was cancelled in 2000. Where did you get the info you told me? Do the US State Department update their data on foreign countries sometimes? :blink: By the way, have a look here - http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_p.../cis_1006.html . You may read the following: "Visitors may bring in regular cellular telephones to Russia without restriction. Satellite telephones require advance approval from the Russian authorities. ". And, yes, there's a restriction put on GPS, but it's not your problem unless you have a mixed GPS/GSM device. Still have doubts?

By the way, what phone would you be able to bring with you to Russia? Which bands does it have? It's quite important if it has 900 MHz, 1800 MHz or both because different operators use such the bands more or less or even just the only band. And, yes, the phone should be unlocked to accept a Russian SIM card. It's theoretically possible to unlock phone in Russia, and it's quite cheap, but you can't do it without fluent Russian and knowing the local reality well (unlocking is a sort of hidden business here, you get what I mean, right?). However, it's all about your American GSM phone, which is probably locked for now. Keep in mind, all phones sold in Russia are unlocked. You just go to a dealer shop and buy a phone (separately to a SIM, i.e. you may just buy a GSM phone without a SIM as if it was a DECT cordless phone or something like that), and this phone is always unlocked. So, it's not a problem at all. Do not buy a phone at the operator's offices, you'd better buy them in popular dealer shops such as Связной or Евросеть (these are spread both in St.Petersburg and Moscow, AFAIK), which you may find almost at every metro station here. A phone you might buy here would probably be 900/1800 MHz only (good for Europe but useless for the States) or 900/1800/1900 MHz (good for Europe and fine for the States in places with 1900 MHz GSM coverage).

[Bossman]

Same here. I know of a few colleagues that have visited Moscow with their phones, and used it there without any issues at all. So, I am not sure where he is getting all this info from.

[TheSquid]

'K, here's the thing - I don't actually own a GSM phone at all. So I'd either be buying one in Russia or buying an unlocked one off eBay. (My phone here is CDMA.) The reason I was leaning toward buying one there was so it would have the native power plugs and I wouldn't have to worry about converting or possibly transforming it. In the UK, I was able to purchase a prepaid mobile with O2 for about ?50 ($90USD, 2500 руб.) With the new information, I'm starting to reconsider...(plus, an English interface would be nice) Maybe grabbing an unlocked quad-band phone for $100-$150 is the way to go.

http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/region...ional_1176.html says:

To obtain permission to bring in a cellular telephone, an agreement for service from a local cellular provider in Russia is required. That agreement and a letter of guarantee to pay for the cellular service must be sent to Glavgossvyaznadzor along with a request for permission to import the telephone. Based on these documents, a certificate is issued. This procedure is reported to take two weeks. Without a certificate, no cellular telephone can be brought into the country, regardless of whether or not it is meant for use in Russia. Permission for the above devices may also be required from the State Customs Committee of the Russian Federation. Cellular phone rentals are available and recommended.

Last updated May 2001. I suppose therein lies the problem.

[Asick]

Well, this is funny. Look, I gave you another link within the same site (http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_p.../cis_1006.html) and it said "Visitors may bring in regular cellular telephones to Russia without restriction", nothing more nothing less. It's dated November 23, 2005, so I guess this is much more correct at present. The things your older link tells us look very similar to the law cancelled in February, 2000, so now I'm sure it's the same thing. By the way, I usually cross the border with two phones and have no problems anywhere, including the Russian border (such the law usually applies both on residents and foreigners). I guess some problems would occur if you carry more than 2 phones with you, though.

My piece of advice for you: buy a GSM phone here, don't mess with eBay. No documents etc. are needed to buy a cellular phone here itself. I guess a phone bought in Russia would be cheaper, and, yes, it would include a charger with the native Russian plug (in fact it's continental European type: thin and round 2 pins) and Russian AC voltage support (220-240 volts only, or may be 110-240 volts so you'd be able to use it in the States via a plug adaptor). Look here - http://www.svyaznoy.ru/shop/cellphon...l?standart=gsm , there you may find a price for an almost every cellular phone that you might buy in one of the dozens of Связной dealer shops (Russian language). As you can see, you may buy a lowend simple phone for 1500-1600 rubles (less than $60) or even for 1400 rubles, and such the phone would be unlocked and fully functional here (both 900/1800 MHz). You'd have to pay more if you need a triband (900/1800/1900) to be able to use it in the States. So, keep in mind cellular phones in Russia are not expensive, eventually.

[Asick]

By the way, I'm afraid it's difficult to buy a quad-band phone here. What models of quad-bands do you know? I'd look for them here. Here most of the phones are either 900/1800 or 900/1800/1900, so no real chance to find 850 MHz supported, I guess. And, menu languages in phones being sold here are usually English, Russian, Ukrainian and sometimes Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian etc., but English does always present (usually including T9 English support too, if T9 is supported itself). So, it's not a problem at all.

[TheSquid]

I was thinking a Motorola V600 or something of the like. A lot of American phones are quad-band because the main provider, Cingular, is GSM850/GSM1900, and if they want world roaming, they'll need GSM900 and GSM1800, which brings us to quad band.

It looks like there's a Связной just the other side of Вернадского пр. from МГИМО on Лобачевского ул, about 1.5km away. Do they sell SIM cards there, or will I need to go to a Мегафон place?

[Bossman]

I'd say buy the unlocked quad or triband phone on eBay before you go. Prices are very reasonable these days.