Jupitermedia CEO Alan Meckler
Russia Mobile Phone Rip-Off
Readers know that I was in Russian a few weeks ago. I always travel with my BlackBerry Curve and trusty IBM X41 ThinkPad (and now my new Kindle). Travel abroad always means addiional roaming charges from AT&T. I know that a few days in most countries in Europe could mean a few hundred dollars for roaming charges.
My roaming charges for Russia just appeared on my AT&T bill. What a shock! The normal extra $200 became nearly $2000 for a few days in Russia. My calls were no longer nor were they more numerous than what I usually have for a trip to England, France, Germany etc.
Next time I go to Russian I will check out other options for mobile phone use. Hopefully my expensive lesson will help anyone planning on travel to Russia to be able to save on mobile phone costs? I presume there is a good Web site out there that gives tips and warnings to travelers about excessive roaming charges abroad? Please let me know?
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It is not about Russia, it is about US cell phone carriers. They ripped my girlfriend off for 1000 dollars. She would just dial me when she was in Moscow, I would not pick up the phone and call her back. TMobile said that seconds start from the moment she pressed the button. How ridiculous. Russian cell carriers are actually really good and really cheap if you look into it.
There is a Russian mobile operator which charges about 10 cents\min for any international calls. When my friends from US come here I usually recommend to buy SIM card from it. If your phone doesn't support SIM cards, it's possible to buy a phone for about $40.
The Russians were probably just punishing you for your apparent inability to spell the word Russia...