Global Prepaid Overview

[Effendi]

Quick Facts

Country: Latvia
Network Name: Amigo
Prepaid Card Name: Amigo
Frequency and Technology: MVNO on GSM 900/1800
Prepaid Package Cost (Just SIM): LVL 2.99/3.00 - ? 4.30/4.31 or LVL 3.99/4.00 - ? 5.74/5.75 or LVL 5.99/7.00 - ? 8.61/10.07
Documents needed: none
Prepaid Package Validity: 30 or 60 days depending on the kit you choose
CSD access: No
GPRS/EDGE access: yes
UMTS access: No
SIM applications: don't remember
Manual included: Yes, in Latvian and Russian
Refill amounts: LVL 1.99/2.00, LVL 2.99/3.50, LVL 4.99/6.00, LVL 9.99/13.00 (cost/credit)
Availability: very easy to buy at any kiosk or LMT shop
Competitors: LMT, Tele2. Bite

More In-Depth Information

Buying:

The Good:
Very easy and very cheap to buy, you can find it in many kiosks; I bought it at Riga's central station at a LMT shop (they sell both LMT and Amigo prepaids there).

The Bad:
Really nothing bad, if you speak Latvian or Russian it helps!

Usage:

The Good:
Amigo is a Virtual Operator using LMT's network which is the best, by far, in Latvia. Using Tele2 LT in "free roaming" on Tele2 LV I found several no-network places, expecially in rural zones, while with Amigo it was always fine.
All rates are billed per second which is good, SMS interconnection with Italy worked fine (while I had big problems with Tele2 and italian simcards in roaming).
GPRS is available now (not when I was there) and that is surely a plus.
"Free roaming" in Lithuania and Estonia is available on Omnitel and EMT networks.

The Bad:
Not the cheapest solution... with Amigo you pay usually less than with LMT O'Karte, but Tele2 and the new operator Bite are surely cheaper, but coverage is weaker.
You pay incoming MMS too.

TIPS:
If you just stay in Riga ora bigger towns it's probably better to buy Tele2 Zelta Zivtina

FINAL THOUGHTS:
I didn't want to buy any Latvian card since I thought to use my Lithuanian one in "free roaming", but international calls were too expensive with it and I bough an Amigo card just for some calls to Italy, and to test it. It's surely the most reliable offer, LMT network works fine and you have GPRS, MMS and SMS services all running well. By the way rates are quite expensive for an Eastern country.