Belarus report (MTS / МТС)

NFH · **Belarus report (MTS / МТС) -** 21-06-2012, 18:17

Many people in Belarus carry two mobiles, one on MTS (МТС in Russian) and the other on Velcom, just so they don't have to make more expensive cross-network calls. I chose MTS mainly because of its reasonable 180-day non-usage expiry policy (Velcom requires periodic top-ups) and because MTS issues micro-SIMs to prepaid customers, whereas Velcom issues micro-SIMs only to monthly contract customers. I was very pleased with my choice.

MTS has a Гостевой (guest/visitor) tariff that doesn't require the customer to be registered with the authorities in Belarus. However, the problem with this tariff is that roaming not available, meaning that it can be hard to use the SIM every 180 days in order to prevent it from expiring. It therefore makes sense to go for one of the other tariffs, for example Onliner.by.

To get the Onliner.by tariff, you just need to create a profile at https://profile.onliner.by/reg/ following which you will see an МТС-код in your profile. You will need this code in order to activate the Onliner.by tariff. In order to get roaming "Международный роуминг" activated, you will need a starting credit of BYR 25,000 (€2.39). To buy the SIM card, you will personally need to be registered in Belarus and show your passport at an MTS shop. A stamp on your immigration card by a hotel is sufficient, which is routinely done at check-in.

The Onliner.by data bundles are cheaper if you also buy a bundle of calls. For example, 300MB costs BYR 21,000 but only BYR 6,300 if you also buy a bundle of 100 minutes for BYR 11,500. Therefore 300MB + 100 minutes = BYR 17,800 (€1.70) whereas 300MB alone = BYR 21,000 (€2.01). It therefore always makes sense to buy a calls bundle even if you don't need it. When you add a bundle, the price and allowance is pro-rated until the end of the month. Therefore if you need 250MB and you buy the SIM card halfway through the month, buy a 500MB bundle. The cost of bundles is deducted on a daily basis rather than one big hit upon activation.

SMS costs BYR 180 (€0.017) to any number in the world.

Using the Speedtest.net app on my iPhone 4, I got 6Mbps downstream and 3.3Mbps upstream.

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NFH (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 322 Join Date: 11 Apr 2012 Location: London Country:	Belarus report (MTS / МТС) - 21-06-2012, 18:17 Many people in Belarus carry two mobiles, one on MTS (МТС in Russian) and the other on Velcom, just so they don't have to make more expensive cross-network calls. I chose MTS mainly because of its reasonable 180-day non-usage expiry policy (Velcom requires periodic top-ups) and because MTS issues micro-SIMs to prepaid customers, whereas Velcom issues micro-SIMs only to monthly contract customers. I was very pleased with my choice. MTS has a Гостевой (guest/visitor) tariff that doesn't require the customer to be registered with the authorities in Belarus. However, the problem with this tariff is that roaming not available, meaning that it can be hard to use the SIM every 180 days in order to prevent it from expiring. It therefore makes sense to go for one of the other tariffs, for example Onliner.by. To get the Onliner.by tariff, you just need to create a profile at https://profile.onliner.by/reg/ following which you will see an МТС-код in your profile. You will need this code in order to activate the Onliner.by tariff. In order to get roaming "Международный роуминг" activated, you will need a starting credit of BYR 25,000 (€2.39). To buy the SIM card, you will personally need to be registered in Belarus and show your passport at an MTS shop. A stamp on your immigration card by a hotel is sufficient, which is routinely done at check-in. The Onliner.by data bundles are cheaper if you also buy a bundle of calls. For example, 300MB costs BYR 21,000 but only BYR 6,300 if you also buy a bundle of 100 minutes for BYR 11,500. Therefore 300MB + 100 minutes = BYR 17,800 (€1.70) whereas 300MB alone = BYR 21,000 (€2.01). It therefore always makes sense to buy a calls bundle even if you don't need it. When you add a bundle, the price and allowance is pro-rated until the end of the month. Therefore if you need 250MB and you buy the SIM card halfway through the month, buy a 500MB bundle. The cost of bundles is deducted on a daily basis rather than one big hit upon activation. SMS costs BYR 180 (€0.017) to any number in the world. Using the Speedtest.net app on my iPhone 4, I got 6Mbps downstream and 3.3Mbps upstream.