Cost of sending SMS from a Russian mobile???

[carraig]

I have recently started corresponding with a lady from Dudinka, its away in the sticks.
I can send her SMS and she doesnt mind if I call her during work hours as she only has a "work mobile" , but she claims for her to return a SMS will cost her $2-3??
Could this be right?? I assumed that SMS from any Russian mobile would be fairly cheap?? Is therea Russian sim card I can tell her to go buy that will allow her to send and recieve cheap SMS messages???
Any assistance greatly appreciated

[alantodd]

It is expensive.  Not sure $2-$3.  Even you want her to text you you can pay for it.  She probably does not make much.  She can do it free from a computer to you but it could get her in trouble at work.

[wxman]

I use www.ipipi.com to send text messages to Ukraine because Verizon does not. It's costs about 0.15 for each message sent and recieved. How it works is that you set up the account and when she recieves the message from you, it gives her a local number to respond back. When she responds, her message will show up on your phone. She only has to pay for sending a SMS to a number in Russia.

[docetae]

I have recently started corresponding with a lady from Dudinka, its away in the sticks.
I can send her SMS and she doesnt mind if I call her during work hours as she only has a "work mobile" , but she claims for her to return a SMS will cost her $2-3??
Could this be right?? I assumed that SMS from any Russian mobile would be fairly cheap?? Is therea Russian sim card I can tell her to go buy that will allow her to send and recieve cheap SMS messages???
Any assistance greatly appreciated

You can check cost on the web: one cell provider in this city is beeline (http://www.beeline.ru/tarifs/index.wbp)
but 2$ is really expensive.. Cost for around 200 sms is near 20$ in Ukraine... can you send me her the 3 first numbers after regional code ? (ex 067 for Kyvstar in Ukraine) , it will be easy to find her phone provider and real cost...

[carraig]

Thanks docetae, her number starts 00792144xxxxx

I know two ladies from Ukraine and I dont have any problems sending and recieving SMS.
I thought maybe there is some technical reason as this lady lives out near Siberia (Dudinka)??

[DKMM]

She's either stupid or lying or both.

[docetae]

Thanks docetae, her number starts 00792144xxxxx

I know two ladies from Ukraine and I dont have any problems sending and recieving SMS.
I thought maybe there is some technical reason as this lady lives out near Siberia (Dudinka)??

she is using megaphone. based on their first plan, sms for abroad are 0.07$ (1.80 r)

[Andrew]

I have no idea how much an SMS costs. I don't think it costs very much.
A few years ago when I first met my girlfriend, aside from MSN and email we would SMS each other a lot. I remember her once telling me that she had bought a phone card for a dollar and she would be able to SMS through out the day with that no problem.
On average she would send me in the region of 15 to 20 SMS's a day.
Like I said, I have no idea how much they cost and this was about 3 years ago but maybe it will give you an idea of SMS charges in todays terms.

[carraig]

she is using megaphone. based on their first plan, sms for abroad are 0.07$ (1.80 r)

Thanks docetae, I think the problem is to do with the phone being a "work" mobile with some business calls use only package.  Apparantly Megafon got in to a joint adventure with Nokia to supply a transmitter for this area of Russia, and well, it seems it has to be paid for!!

[roykirk]

I can't speak to Ukraine, but it's pretty much free for my girlfriend and I to send SMS's to each other.  She's on MTS, and text messages are included in her plan.  I'm on Verizon, and while Verizon will not allow me to directly SMS her cell phone, I can get around it by sending a text message to her MTS e-mail address, which then sends it directly to her phone.  I get 500 text messages a month before they start charging me, so it's essentially free.  Likewise, she cannot directly text me, but all she has to do is text to my Verizon e-mail address (xxx-xxx-xxxx@vtext.com) and I get it immediately on my phone.

[jmana]

I know this is a little off topic, but how do you send a SMS to a Russian phone number?  I have free text on my Sprint phone, but never really used it, is that the same as SMS? 

[roykirk]

Yes, text messaging and SMS are the same thing.  How you would text directly to a Russian number I do not know since I'm not able to do it through Verizon.  Sprint should be able to tell you.

[Misha]

Thanks docetae, I think the problem is to do with the phone being a "work" mobile with some business calls use only package.  Apparantly Megafon got in to a joint adventure with Nokia to supply a transmitter for this area of Russia, and well, it seems it has to be paid for!!

I am confused what you mean by "work" mobile. In Russia, it is easy enough to pop out the SIM card out of a mobile phone and put in another SIM card from another plan or even another service provider. I have been looking at what Megafon charges in Dudinka and can't see any reference to the rates being any higher than the rest of the region (see http://megafonsib.ru.

[DKMM]

jmana its not going to be free for you, international is a different plan.  You must order it seperately.  I'm with AT&T and for 10 bucks a month I can send 50 SMS's overseas, which is like a 50% discount.  However, the incoming still charge me.

[roykirk]

jmana its not going to be free for you, international is a different plan.  You must order it seperately.  I'm with AT&T and for 10 bucks a month I can send 50 SMS's overseas, which is like a 50% discount.  However, the incoming still charge me.

That's where sending the SMS to an e-mail address comes in handy.  I can't send it directly to her phone because Verizon doesn't support text messages to Russian phones.  But if they did, they'd indeed would charge me extra for it, just as they do for countries that they do support.  When I send the SMS to her MTS e-mail address, Verizon simply considers that one of my 500 domestic non-verizon SMS messages I get every month.  So, no cost, unless I go over 500 one of these months, which I doubt. 

[msmoby_ru]

I have recently started corresponding with a lady from Dudinka, its away in the sticks.
I can send her SMS and she doesnt mind if I call her during work hours as she only has a "work mobile" , but she claims for her to return a SMS will cost her $2-3??
Could this be right?? I assumed that SMS from any Russian mobile would be fairly cheap?? Is therea Russian sim card I can tell her to go buy that will allow her to send and recieve cheap SMS messages???
Any assistance greatly appreciated

Hi Carraig!

Sounds very strange to me... way OTT.. I've never had a pre-paid Russian or UA sim card that sms/txts cost so much ...There regional / city sims that might not allow or be expensive to use to contact abroad... but there are packages which do.

 My Wife sends me sms several times daily when she is away in Siberia - and her son was sms/txting her reguarly when she is in UK / Cyprus.. He is a student and not wealthy - he would not sms / txt if it was expensive.

 She has a contract and the child has a pre-paid package..

Sorry, mate -to be blunt - I believe this is NONSENSE..  What *you* need to decide is  - is this ignorance or her part, or an "excuse"? If she is genuinely interested she will find a way to communicate - down to you - use your instinct

Mark

[msmoby_ru]

Hmm

Turns out this fellow countryman was the victim of an attempted Scam...