Dialing From a Private Russian Phone
At present local calls are free but there is already considerable talk in Moscow of introducing a per-minute charge system in the near future. Not all phones can make long-distance calls, but for those that do, dialling 8 will get you a long-distance line. Thus, to dial another region of Russia , dial 8, wait for the new dial tone, then dial the rest of your number.

For international dialing, dial 8, wait for the tone, then dial 10, then the country code and the rest of your number.

For example, to call the U.S. number (123)-456-7890 from Russia , you would dial 8- (wait for dial done) -10-1-123-456-7890.

Using Public Phones
Public telephones are widespread on the streets of most Russian cities. There are still the old token phones as well as different types of card-accepting phones. Be careful when buying cards (from the ticket booth of metro stations) as different phones take different cards. Plus, some pay phones don't allow international or even national calls.

Telephone Codes

Note: When you are calling to Moscow or other regions of Russia where the area code starts with a "0", you do not omit this first zero when dialing from outside Russia . For example, to call the Moscow number (495)-123-4567 from U.S. you would dial 011-7-495-123-4567.

Direct Dialing Access Numbers
AT&T
755-5042
325-5042

MCI
To call using Rostelcom: 747-3322
For a Russian speaking operator: 747-3320
To call using Sovintel from Moscow : 960-2222
To call using Sovintel from St. Petersburg : 346-8022
To call from Sakhalin Island : 1616-1

BT Direct
8-10-80-01-10-10-44

Canada Direct
755-50-45
747-33-25

Finding Telephone Numbers
Finding telephone numbers in Russia can be enormously frustrating. The Moscow Business Telephone guide, available for free in most hotels, is a good place to find businesses. Two good online resources are:

Moscow Yellow Pages
www.infoservices.com

Moscow Business Telephone Guide
http://mbtg.ru/index.php?language=en

Moscow also has a directory assistance service, which can be reached by dialing 09.

Mobile Phones
The best way to find out if your phone will work on Russian networks is to contact your local service provider, which probably has a roaming agreement with one of the Moscow operators. In general, GSM subscribers should not have any trouble roaming in major Russian cities. It may be harder for Americans and Asians to get service.

In addition to GSM 900/1800, a common European standard which is widely avaiable throughout Russia, CDMA was introduced in St. Petersburg. GSM 400/1800 will soon be available in selected regions. There are also two main analog standards supported in Russia , D-AMPS and NMT-450.

In Moscow , St. Petersburg and other wealthy cities, coverage on both GSM and analog standards is usually very good. The networks are expanding into more and more regions but don't count on amazing service outside