Cell Phones in Russia

[WilliamF]

My wife Oxana is getting ready to return to Russia for a home visit. I will be joining her and her family in about one month.

What are my cell phone options in Russia?

I currently have two cell phones - one is a StarTac (2001 model- US Cellular) and the other is a Nokia 3360 (new model - AT&T).

thanks, William

[mudd]

... in response to Cell Phones in Russia, posted by WilliamF on Jul 21, 2002

being a customer of verizon, nextel and at&t. not all of them will work in diffrent countrys. first, are the phones GSM or CDMA, and what is the signal, 900 /1200 or 1800MH. GSM is the standard in most of the world, but we use CDMA, until now. AT&t is switching its signal to also handle GSM with CDMA. Cingular has also done this last year, and nextel has been this way for a while. verizon will still be two years behind on switching to GSM with CDMA. a new company, T MOBLE has GSM here, but they are a new german company  in the USA, and i have no idea how good their signal is. i have looked into this for the last few weeks, my brothers wife, her brother is the vice president of signal coverage in the USA for verizon, so he gave me some good  info. all companys will rent you a GSM compatable phone for traveling, but you need to check and see if they have a roaming agreement with a company in the country you are traveling too. some do not, so just done assume that they do. some will not let you rent the phone, unless you have been a customer for at least six months with no missed payments.i myself, i rented a Nokia GSM phone from AT&T for traveling through europe. they had a roaming agreement with the countries that i wanted to visit, so did cingular, but you had to be an existing customer. the other question is, what cell company do you have here now, and do you like them? do they have a good plan, how is their coverage here in the USA. verizon has the best coverage, but they will not be global for a few years. AT&T is global now, but their signal here in the usa is not the best. when i return, i will either keep my verizon phone and contract for my brother,(we run a company here, so he needs a good phone with a good signal) and i will drop my At&t and switch to Cingular. in short, all the companies are in the process of switching and going global, so do not sign a two year contract, a one year or a month to month is best until they all get it working perfect. hope this helped :-)

[mudd]

... in response to Re: Cell Phones in Russia, posted by mudd on Jul 22, 2002

i forgot to mention, this is for someone who needs to call the USA or a diffrent country while traveling abroad, using a USA phone and carrier. if you are visiting, say ukraine, and just want to make local calls in ukraine, just rent a phone in ukraine from a cell company there for the duration of your visit, but you will not be allowed to call international with it.

[Jack]

... in response to Cell Phones in Russia, posted by WilliamF on Jul 21, 2002

William,

  A lot of guys are renting cell phones. We greet them at the airport and hand them there own cell phone, rent for $50 a week.

[BubbaGump]

... in response to Cell Phones in Russia, posted by WilliamF on Jul 21, 2002

If the cellular phones use the GSM standard you should be able to use it in Russia.  I am assuming that Russia does use the GSM standard.  I'm think you should be able to use that AT&T phone.

Here are some links.

Phones and Plans for International Travelers
http://www.cnet.com/wireless/0-1923401-8-3163407-1.html

Top 5 world phones
http://www.cnet.com/wireless/0-3366793-8-6247540-1.html

Wireless Solutions for Travelers
http://www.telestial.com/

Leasing Cellular Phones for International Travel
http://www.planetfone.com/?source=overture

[wsbill]

... in response to Cell Phones in Russia, posted by WilliamF on Jul 21, 2002

The 3GSM phones in Russia,  where I believe they will work in any location...They are just now being rolled out in America.

Which means, buy one phone use it around the world.

Here's a pretty nifty phone.
http://www.handspring.ru

[BrianC]

... in response to Cell Phones in Russia, posted by WilliamF on Jul 21, 2002

William,

What you need to find out is if any of your phone can handle GSM.  If they can, then you can purchase the reprogramming card her.  You will have to check with your provider about the cost per minute.

If you can look into Ericson phones.  I know those can handle the GSM.

Still lurking,

BrianC