Address: http://bestofukraine.com/communication.html
Printed on 20.04.2024
During your stay in another country it is very important to know about its communications system in order to stay in contact with your family and friends back home, as well as to stay in touch with people in the country, itself.
Ukraine's communications system is generally well-developed in the bigger cities and main tourist areas. It's not a problem nowadays to find Internet in Ukraine in the major cities, but still could be difficult in the smaller towns and villages. The country's telecommunications regulatory body is the National Commission on Communication Regulation of Ukraine. It is responsible for everything related to telecommunications in Ukraine.
Internet
Telephone
During several recent years, Ukraine's telephone network has been undergoing some serious upgrade. New equipment has been installed at many local telephone stations. Telephone connections are pretty poor in rural areas and smaller towns, as they are still using old analogue equipment. Digital telephone lines are available in bigger cities and towns.
Telephone calls in Ukraine are paid at a per minute rate. Local in-city calls are pretty cheap. Locals pay a standard flat fee every month to the telephone company. There are so many free minutes included per month. Everything which is more should be paid additionally. In-country calls are more expensive. In general it is about 0.60 kopeks ($0.075) per minute. During the weekends and holidays it is a bit cheaper. International calls are the most expensive and it is better to use IP-telephony. IP-telephony cards can be bought at news stalls, pressa kiosks, cards stands, some computer shops and shopping malls. Some mobile providers offer pretty good international calling rates (for example, LIFE :) ). There are several cellular telephone operators in Ukraine, so it is possible for visitors to use their cell phones in Ukraine. International roaming is, however, quite expensive.
Hotels might charge 2 - 3 times more than what the telephone companies do.
Mobile
There are several companies serving cellular connection in Ukraine:
GSM: Kyivstar GSM, MTC (former UMC), Djuice, Jeans, Beeline, Life :)
CDMA: CDMA Ukraine, Intertelecom, PEOPLE Net, U'TEL (Ukrtelecom)
If your operator works in one of the mentioned above standards, most probably you will be able to use your cell phone in Ukraine as well. Please, find all details from your local cellular provider.
Be aware, that international roaming is quite expensive in Ukraine.
The most unexpensive way to stay available for calls in Ukraine with your cell phone supporting standards GSM 900 or GSM 1800 is to get a prepaid mobile package. The package contains a Sim-card - a chip to plug into the phone and a prepaid time voucher or card. You can simply add funds to your cell phone account by purchasing new vouchers/scratch cards. Read more
Post
Mass Media
Mass media is a vital method of dispensing information and news to people. It is also a great means of entertainment. There are several newspapers and magazines available in English: KyivPost, KyivWeekly, What's On, etc. Mostly, you could find them in Kyiv at the restaurants and pubs, as well as sometimes at news stands and press kiosks.
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