Job Discussion Forums

[juliagirl]

Hello. I'm moving to Moscow next week and I would like to know if my American cell phone would work in Russia if I just replace the sim card.

Thanks,

Julia

[yorkshireterrier]

It depends what frequencies your phone works with:

In Russia (and Europe) two GSM bands are used: 900 and 1800 MHz
In America two GSM bands are used: 850 and 1900 MHz

So check the specifications of your phone to see what frequencies it uses. Yours might be a tri band (works on 3 frequencies) or a quad band (works on all four), which means it will work in Russia.

Coming to Moscow myself in the next week! Might bump into you!

[canucktechie]

If your phone doesn't have the right frequencies for Russia you can just buy one. You can get a used one for under $50. Actually you can get a new one for that:

http://www.mvideo.ru/price/lvl_12/class_60/

The problem is getting the new SIM card. No problem buying one but you must get it activated with your registration details. Like most other things in Russia this is a PITA.

[rusmeister]

I thought a PITA was a food...
Anyway, IDM (it doesn't matter).
Until I had my VID (permanent residency) I had to use a SIM card purchased by my wife. Now I wave my VID - it's good almost anywhere a passport is (except at the DMV, evidently).

[eslcowboy]

first, make sure your company in america supports sim-cards and that your phone actually has one. i believe verizon and one other major company do not support sims. then, if you are sure your phone has a sim-card, talk to your company. for example, i had at&t and i needed to pay $50 to have them "unlock" my phone so that it worked with other sim-cards - that is, to make it an open phone. you can also get this done in russia for less, but then you are obviously taking some added risks.

[macedonianmike]

just buy a new one here it's cheaper.