A trip to the USA is an amazing trip at any time of the year. All tourists dream of being constantly in touch for work purposes or just to communicate with friends and family. Buying local SIM cards is not always the best option, because... This is due to a change in phone number. Therefore, you can activate roaming in the USA from Russian mobile operators.
Using the services of a Russian operator
This option is perfect for those who do not want to dive into the numerous nuances of paying for US cellular communications from local companies. The client needs to connect to international access from a telephone operator in Russia.
Roaming in MTS
Of course, it is better to contact the nearest MTS office and ask a salon employee to advise you. However, independent connection is also allowed: USSD command - *111* 2192#. We press the call button, and soon the service will be connected.
There are a number of conditions: the client must be connected to the MTS operator and use its services for 6 months, spending more than 600 rubles to pay for these services.
International roaming from MTS has its own characteristics: in particular, paid incoming calls, high cost of outgoing and incoming calls (200 rubles will be charged per minute).
Some important tips:
- Disable forwarding to save money.
- Put as much money on your phone as possible, since doing this in the USA will not be so easy.
Roaming in Beeline
This telecom operator imposes a condition for those wishing to connect to international roaming: you need to put 600 rubles on your phone. As soon as there is this amount of money on the phone, international access will be automatically connected.
Beeline provides this opportunity to users of any tariff. In this case, roaming will be active all the time as long as you have 300 rubles or more on your balance.
Beeline offers more favorable conditions than MTS:
- One minute of incoming and outgoing calls costs only 69 rubles.
- Incoming SMS is free, outgoing SMS costs are low.
It’s better to turn off entertainment packages and services in advance, which will make mobile communications even more profitable.
Roaming to Megafon
Here, connecting to international roaming is also automated: you just need to be in the United States. True, it is better to put more money on your balance in advance: 1000-1500 rubles.
Megafon provides customers with the following tariff features:
- Incoming and outgoing calls cost 79 rubles per minute of conversation.
- Outgoing SMS costs 19 rubles, incoming SMS is free.
It is also recommended to contact the Megafon office and find out more detailed information about tariffs.
How to find out the cost
Rostelecom offers subscribers several ways to manage their tariffs. You can find out the cost of calls from your plan's home device as follows:
- go to the “Personal Account” of Rostelecom. On the website page you can find out all the current information on your tariff: history of transactions on your personal account, name and conditions of the current tariff plan;
- Call the technical support hotline for free. The operator is obliged to provide all the information you are interested in, including the cost of calls within Russia and abroad from your home phone;
- visit the Rostelecom office, where the manager will also explain all the necessary parameters of your tariff. You must have a document with you that proves your identity;
- find an agreement with the company, which specifies the tariff plan with a detailed description of its conditions and parameters.
Rostelecom's tariffs for international calls from a home phone provide for the possibility of changing the price for communication. This depends on the following parameters:
- distance from the recipient’s region of residence;
- connected additional options.
Provided that all options are paid for, you can connect an unlimited number of them.
Buying a phone
You will have to take this step if your phone does not support the American frequency.
GSM technology in the USA operates at a frequency of 850/1900 - this is the local cellular communication standard, while in Russia this technology has a frequency of 900/1800.
It is important that the tourist’s smartphone matches.
In most cases, modern mobile phones work on all four popular standards. To clarify at what frequency the devices operate, you need to refer to their instructions. In some cases, you need to contact a repair service to set it up. If the phone still turns out to be hopeless outside of Russia, you should buy the device in America.
It's not as expensive as it might seem. So, you can save on purchasing a mobile phone using a contract. However, this method is only suitable for those who are going to America for a long time and have all the official documents to work and live in the country. The contract is concluded for an average of 2 years. At the same time, even the newest model of a phone can be bought for only 25% of its original cost.
The buyer undertakes to use a specific cellular connection throughout the entire contract period, for which he pays a lot of money every month.
Operator selection
US mobile operators that are the most famous:
- AT&T.
- Verizon.
- T-Mobile.
However, only two companies offer prepaid plans: AT&T and T-Mobile. Verizon does not have prepaid plans. The rest provide two types of tariffs for tourists (per month and per day).
One day of using a SIM card will cost 2-3 dollars.
These daily rates are suitable for those who come for a short time. There is simply no point in paying for a month. Or you are here for a little more than a month, and paying the full cost of the extension is not profitable.
You can reconnect tariffs at branded communication stores, and here you can also get a SIM card for free. But if your device does not support American frequencies, then buying a phone cannot be avoided.
Although there is no point in getting upset, in the USA there is a very profitable system: for just 20-60 dollars you can buy both a phone and a SIM card, which comes as a bonus.
SIPNET will help you save on calls
By becoming a client of the SIPNET service, you can make cheap calls to mobile phones of the following operators: E-Plus, Vodafone, Tismi, Lycatel, O2, T-Mobile, etc. Also with SIPNET you can make inexpensive calls to subscribers of the largest mobile operators in the CIS, and make the most profitable calls to subscribers using the services of the following telecom operators:
- MTS;
- Megaphone;
- Beeline;
- Kyivstar;
- Life;
- Tele 2.
Which operator is beneficial for tourists?
In most cases, travel advice is directed at T-Mobile.
It offers a SIM card for only $10 at the following rates:
- When purchasing a card, the subscriber receives half an hour of free talk within the United States. The following tariff applies - talk: 33 cents per minute, SMS: 10 cents - for incoming and outgoing calls within America. The tariff is valid for 3 months.
- By paying an additional $30, the user receives 160 minutes of free calls throughout the country. Terms: 20 cents per minute of conversation, 10 cents per SMS (incoming/outgoing). It is also valid for three months.
- If a tourist is willing to pay $2 a day, he will be able to use SMS, minutes and even 2G Internet without any limits. But if you pay one more dollar more, the tourist gets unlimited use of mobile Internet at 4G speed. If you do not use the Internet during the day, no money is withdrawn from your account.
- The most popular tariff package of this operator for tourists is called Pay-As-You-Go (Pay as you use). In this case, you need to deposit 10 dollars into your account, which is enough for 3 months of calls. However, there will be no Internet.
Profitable international calls
allows you to call all countries of the world at low prices.
Features of use
The option only works if you have connected or “Easy roaming and international access”. You can use it throughout the country in the MTS network at all operator tariffs.
The service is mutually exclusive with other options that reduce the price of calls to international numbers.
If the subscriber has a package of minutes for calls to other countries, the discount for “Profitable international calls” will begin to apply after it is exhausted.
On the “Guest” and “Your Country” tariffs, international calls to the CIS with an active option are paid according to the initial conditions of the tariff plans.
You can activate “Beneficial international calls” on MTS or delete it using the combination *111*902#. In the window that opens, you need to select “1” or “2”.
To control the option, you can send an SMS with the text “902” (enable) or “9020” (disable) to 111.
You can add or remove an option in your Personal Account. Before connecting, you can find it in the “Available” section, after activation - in the “Connected” tab.
Subscription fee
Monthly payment – 89 rubles. The service is free to activate, but upon activation, the first month's fee is charged.
Cost of calls to other countries
The following prices apply for outgoing calls to other countries as part of the service:
| A country | Cost (rubles/minute) |
| Abkhazia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Monaco, Finland, Estonia | 25,00 |
| Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia | 30,00 |
| Austria, Andorra, Armenia, Belgium, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malta, Poland, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Switzerland, South Ossetia | 20,00 |
| Albania, North Korea, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro | 35,00 |
| China | 8,00 |
| Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Equatorial Guinea | 45,00 |
| Algeria, Guinea-Bissau | 50,00 |
| Burundi, Cuba, Mauritania, Madagascar, Maldives, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Tunisia, Central African Republic, Chad | 60,00 |
| Papua New Guinea, Falkland Islands | 75,00 |
| Hong Kong, Canada, Singapore, USA, South Korea | 10,00 |
| Other European countries | 20,00 |
| Other Asian countries | 35,00 |
| Other states | 30,00 |
If, according to the terms of the tariff, the cost of calls to another country is lower than with the activated option, then payment will be charged according to the original terms of the tariff plan.
Mobile phone costs in the USA
It must be said that the tariff policies of various telecom operators in the United States are similar, so jumping from one to another will not save much, and the total costs are unlikely to be below $30 per month, which is quite a bit by American standards.
When connecting a number, a simple mobile phone or smartphone is often offered in addition.
If you sign a contract for a long period of time, then there is the opportunity to receive a brand new iPhone or other prestigious phone at a symbolic price as a bonus.
There is also full unlimited access within the US. This pleasure will cost approximately $100 excluding taxes.
When choosing a specific tariff, pay attention to incoming calls, the cost of which may be non-zero, which is unusual for Russia (we do not take into account intranet roaming when traveling).
MTS calls abroad – cost
The prices for the services of this plan directly depend on a large number of factors. What matters is the chosen tariff, the number of additional minutes provided and the volume of quality traffic provided. Based on them, you can determine for yourself which MTS tariff is the most profitable for roaming abroad.
The established tariffs are completely similar to the standard ones, and activation can be done at the operator’s office or in the personal section on the portal. Payment for services is transferred once every 30 days. This may be writing off the full amount or splitting it into separate parts, which is important if the required amount is not available in the account.
How to call the USA
If you are in the United States and want to call someone outside the United States, dial 011
, followed by the required country code and seven- or eight-digit phone number.
If the phone number starts with 0
, then 0 should not be dialed.
US international code: +1
. You must dial this country code every time you call from outside the United States.
For example, to contact a phone number in France, you would dial 011 33 # ## ## ## ##
.
State dialing codes:
| State | Code |
| Alabama | 205, 251, 256, 334 |
| Alaska | 907 |
| Arizona | 480, 520, 602, 623, 928 |
| Arkansas | 479, 501, 870 |
| California | 209, 213, 310, 323, 408, 415, 510, 530, 559, 562, 619, 626, 650, 661, 707, 714, 760, 805, 818, 831, 858, 909, 916, 925, 949, 951 |
| Colorado | 303, 719, 970 |
| Connecticut | 203, 860 |
| Delaware | 302 |
| Florida | 239, 305, 321, 352, 386, 407, 561, 727, 772, 813, 850, 863, 904, 941, 954 |
| Georgia | 229, 404, 478, 706, 770, 912 |
| Hawaii | 808 |
| Idaho | 208 |
| Illinois | 217, 309, 312, 618, 630, 708, 773, 815, 847 |
| Indiana | 219, 260, 317, 574, 765, 812 |
| Iowa | 319, 515, 563, 641, 712 |
| Kansas | 316, 620, 785, 913 |
| Kentucky | 270, 502, 606, 859 |
| Louisiana | 225, 318, 337, 504, 985 |
| Maine | 207 |
| Maryland | 301, 410 |
| Massachusetts | 413, 508, 617, 781, 978 |
| Michigan | 231, 248, 269, 313, 517, 586, 616, 734, 810, 906, 989 |
| Minnesota | 218, 320, 507, 612, 651, 763, 952 |
| Mississippi | 228, 601, 662 |
| Missouri | 314, 417, 573, 636, 660, 816 |
| Montana | 406 |
| Nebraska | 308, 402 |
| Nevada | 702, 775 |
| New Hampshire | 603 |
| New Jersey | 201, 609, 732, 856, 908, 973 |
| New Mexico | 505, 575 |
| NY | 212, 315, 516, 518, 585, 607, 631, 716, 718, 845, 914 |
| North Carolina | 252, 336, 704, 828, 910, 919 |
| North Dakota | 701 |
| Ohio | 216, 330, 419, 440, 513, 614, 740, 937 |
| Oklahoma | 405, 580, 918 |
| Oregon | 503, 541 |
| Pennsylvania | 215, 412, 570, 610, 717, 724, 814 |
| Rhode Island | 401 |
| South Carolina | 803, 843, 864 |
| South Dakota | 605 |
| Tennessee | 423, 615, 731, 865, 901, 931 |
| Texas | 210, 214, 254, 281, 325, 361, 409, 432, 512, 713, 806, 817, 830, 903, 915, 936, 940, 956, 972, 979 |
| Utah | 435, 801 |
| Vermont | 802 |
| Virginia | 276, 434, 540, 703, 757, 804 |
| Washington | 206, 253, 360, 425, 509 |
| Washington DC | 202 |
| West Virginia | 304 |
| Wisconsin | 262, 414, 608, 715, 920 |
| Wyoming | 307 |
Alternatives
Since calls from the USA to Russia often hit the subscriber’s wallet, we can recommend other ways to call home. These include Internet applications (Skype), calls from hotels, etc.
There are a huge number of payphones on the streets of American cities. All booths have their own number, so you can call a pay phone back. The cost is different everywhere, since pay phones in the USA are also serviced by different operators, usually the first 5-6 minutes cost 25 cents, if you talk longer, you pay extra.
How to disable roaming on MTS abroad?
A subscriber who is abroad will not be able to visit the office to disable the option. You can perform this process using one of the following methods:
- Dial request *111*2192#.
- Using the Internet assistant on the provider's portal.
- Call number +74957660166.
In order not to encounter certain difficulties, it is worth considering the disconnection in advance by visiting the office before the trip.
