Calls in Kazakhstan and abroad

So, you are here, welcome to Kazakhstan!

Of course, you need a phone, right? Let's try to choose.

If you wish to make a call to land line in KZ, you just use a land line phone, it is free! The exception, no doubt, is the hotel phone (and they charge too much!).

But, if you need mobile connection, there are different options:











These are the three main operators, each offering its advantages.
What I would advise is that you get a Beeline sim-card: first, it's cheap, second, it's easy to get it, you just buy a sim-card for USD 7 (with USD 7 on your account) and you usually don't need to provide any documents for registration, except some places. Better go to TsUM.

One more option that the sellers can offer you is Activ.






I would not recommend buying that one, though it's easy to get it and it has a number of promo campaigns, it is very expensive! It is like fast sand compared to other options.

If you urgently need to make a call to your friend, business partner, husband/wife, children, boy/girlfriend... in your home country, don't worry! Of course you can make it from land line phone, but it, as well as your mobile, will cost you a fortune!

What you could do, is buy another phone (don't think I am trying to get you into a trap!), it will be much cheaper for calls abroad, but it will be not so cheap for making calls inside Kazakhstan. So, it's up to you to choose, which one you really need!

If you buy a phone and sim-card from Dalacom (or Pathword), you will pay USD 30 for the phone, if you don't have a CDMA one, and USD 7 for the sim-card (with USD 5 on your account), but you will be able to make calls at 8 cents per minute (any destination) and the connection is very good, believe me! My friends are calling me and it seems they are here in Washington!







NEO also has cheap calls abroad, but they are more expensive (16-20 cents per minuted) and their connection is very poor, you will be disconnected for a number of times!

P.S. You can use your phone and just buy a sim-card, but remember that Beeline, K-Cell, Activ and Neo need GSM phones, unlike Dalacom and Pathword which are compatible with CDMA phones only! Any phone that you'll purchase in Kazakhstan is unlocked.


Summary:

Calls in KZ: Beeline
Calls abroad: Pathword

To make a call abroad from Kazakhstan, you need to dial:
either + country code - area code - number
or 8 - (10) - country code - area code - number
10 is not used for a number of countries, please check