Belarus report (MTS / МТС)

NFH · 26-07-2012, 15:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Effendi

that's usually not because of better network but it mainly depends on agreements between the 2 operators. Probably (surely) your UK operator has a cheaper agreement with MTS.

No, my Orange UK SIM had no Belarusian preferred networks on it. Therefore MTS, Velcom and Life all had equal chance of my iPhone logging on to them. The consistency of MTS's strong signal meant that my iPhone selected MTS.

1040Berlin · **Bying a prepaid SIM card is very easy -** 08-05-2014, 21:47

For those traveling to the Ice hockey championships using the visa free entry to Belarus:

Getting a prepaid SIM card is easy and not expensive. I bought my in a telecommunications shop of a small shopping center (russian связьб "svyaz" = communications).

The SIM card of MTS network I chose costs 10,000 BYR (Belarus Roubles, see Yahoo currency converter) including 10,000 BYR. It is easy to top up by internet, though I did not find the registration button on the English version of mts.by. I booked 1 GByte internet traffic for USD 5.

The championships special offer of Velcom network is cheaper: For 30,000 BYR (USD 3) you get the SIM card and 1 GByte internet traffic.

Callback works but only after my complain to my provider.

Credit card acceptance is excellent allover Belarus. SIM card options may be managed by USSD codes in both networks. There is phone support in English language too (free of charge).

NFH · 08-05-2014, 22:04

I visited Belarus during the first 5 days of the 6-week visa free period, and using a British credit card I topped up my existing MTS SIM card via credit card online with the negligible amount I needed for 500MB of data. I am really impressed with MTS.

One thing I did notice on this visit was that all SIP seems to be blocked, both on MTS and via non-mobile internet connections such as residential broadband. I also tried MegaFon's MultiFon service, which likewise uses SIP, but that was blocked too. Other VOIP services like Skype and FreeVoipDeal's proprietary app worked fine.

	(#2)
1040Berlin (Offline) Junior Member Amateur Member Posts: 20 Join Date: 03 Jul 2006 Country:	Bying a prepaid SIM card is very easy - 08-05-2014, 21:47 For those traveling to the Ice hockey championships using the visa free entry to Belarus: Getting a prepaid SIM card is easy and not expensive. I bought my in a telecommunications shop of a small shopping center (russian связьб "svyaz" = communications). The SIM card of MTS network I chose costs 10,000 BYR (Belarus Roubles, see Yahoo currency converter) including 10,000 BYR. It is easy to top up by internet, though I did not find the registration button on the English version of mts.by. I booked 1 GByte internet traffic for USD 5. The championships special offer of Velcom network is cheaper: For 30,000 BYR (USD 3) you get the SIM card and 1 GByte internet traffic. Callback works but only after my complain to my provider. Credit card acceptance is excellent allover Belarus. SIM card options may be managed by USSD codes in both networks. There is phone support in English language too (free of charge).

	(#3)
NFH (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 322 Join Date: 11 Apr 2012 Location: London Country:	08-05-2014, 22:04 I visited Belarus during the first 5 days of the 6-week visa free period, and using a British credit card I topped up my existing MTS SIM card via credit card online with the negligible amount I needed for 500MB of data. I am really impressed with MTS. One thing I did notice on this visit was that all SIP seems to be blocked, both on MTS and via non-mobile internet connections such as residential broadband. I also tried MegaFon's MultiFon service, which likewise uses SIP, but that was blocked too. Other VOIP services like Skype and FreeVoipDeal's proprietary app worked fine.