Mobile communications in Belarus are identical to those in Russia: there are 3 operators. One of them is MTS, but naturally Belarusian. And here it is in a leading position, featuring the best quality of communication. In second and third place are Life and Velcom - companies that are practically in no way inferior in quality to MTS. They are distinguished by more lenient tariff prices.
In the article:
Despite the fact that in the country international roaming plan to cancel, operators oppose this, setting their own conditions.
Where to buy a SIM card
The process of purchasing SIM cards in Belarus is similar to the Russian one. You can purchase and activate it yourself; no special knowledge is required. To purchase such products, you should go to the salon cellular communication, having with you a passport of a citizen of the country.
Each telecom operator has its own prices for SIM cards. But the essence is the same - it is provided free of charge, and the subscriber pays advance payment for a tariff that will be valid for a certain period of use. On average, the cost of a SIM card is 5-7 Belarusian rubles, which translated into Russian is 150-200.
Cellular operators in Belarus
There are three mobile operators in the country. Each has its own visitor tariff plans, i.e. guest. And they are all worth considering separately.
MTS
How much will you have to spend on mobile communications in Belarus? More than 5 million people choose MTS as the company that provides them with communications and this accounts for 46% of the entire Belarusian market. The MTS operator in Belarus has some of the most favorable tariffs, both for local use and when used in roaming.
Before purchasing, a foreigner should know:
- Purchase SIM cards in Belarus only from official sellers. In this case, an agreement is concluded and a passport is needed for this;
- Unfortunately, without registration, a citizen of another country can only hope for an incomplete selection of tariffs provided;
- In the Republic of Belarus, there are many ways to deposit money into an account: bank, post office, through mobile banking, using a terminal, etc.
One of the most profitable is the MTS “Easy to Say” tariff. The first and only advance payment will be 3 rubles. This tariff provides for a low client fee of 0.59 rubles per month and the average cost of one call. 
It differs from all others in offering profitable calls to other MTS users. A plus will be 50 Megabytes of Internet every month. The cost of calls varies: for three minutes a day the subscriber will pay 0.08 rubles/m, and then 0.03 rubles/m. For calls to landlines, the amount will be 0.15 rubles, the same as for subscribers of other operators. One SMS will cost 0.02 rubles.
There is an “Internet BIT” tariff that provides access to world wide web without restrictions, but there is a certain limit of use. At maximum speed you can only use up to 100 Megabytes, the rest of the time less than 300 Kbps are available. This is enough for users, but a limitation may arise if they want to watch a movie in HD quality.
Another attractive option for getting 5 GB is to purchase the “Easy to Say” tariff and additionally connect “MiniBIT” for 0.23 rubles per day. The conditions are almost the same as the “BIT” service, but using the Internet at maximum speed is limited to 50 Megabytes. With this tariff, the conversation will cost 0.19 rubles/m. MTS subscribers. 0.33 rub. will be the cost of one call using other methods. One message – 0.06 rub.
Another tariff is “Unlimited” for 15.9 rubles. per month, which includes mobile Internet in Belarus without restrictions and another 400 minutes. There are special offers for tourists in Belarus. For example, “Guest 7” is intended for 7 days in the amount of 6 rubles for 1 GB of Internet and 0.07 rubles per minute for calls from all operators.
| Comparison of MTS tariffs | |||||
| Tariff/service | Subscription fee | Conversations | SMS (per piece) | Internet | |
| Outgoing | Outgoing | Inbox | |||
| It's easy to say | – | The first three minutes are 0.08 rubles/min, from 4 onwards – 0.03 rubles/min. To other phones and operators – 0.15 rubles/min | 0.02 rub. | For free | – |
| Unlimited | 15.9 rub. per month | 400 minutes | – | – | Unlimited |
| Guest 7 | 6 rubles for 7 days | 0.07 RUR/min for all operators | – | – | 1 GB |
| MiniBIT | 0.23 rub./day | On MTS – 0.19 rubles/min, other operators 0.33 rubles/min | 0.06 rub. | For free | 5 GB at max speed |
Incoming calls on all tariffs are free.
Velcom
Mobile communications in Belarus have long been supplemented by the VELKOM company. This is a recognizable corporation with a large customer base that knows and realizes all the cherished desires of its consumers.
Their tariffs are distinguished by their wide range of services. One of these is the “Comfort” service package. VELKOM understands how important mobile Internet is now, so it offers an unlimited amount of time on the Velkom 3G network. Good news will also be 100 minutes of calls with any other operator and 1 GB of Internet traffic. The company does not forget about promotions, for example, the subscription fee for beginners will be only 5.4 rubles per month, unlimited communication time on all networks, and the amount of traffic will increase to 20 GB. 
The tariff for mobile communications in Belarus has fairly simple and favorable conditions. For short messages the subscriber will pay 0.04 rubles, for a conversation with another operator the price will be 0.14 rubles from a landline and cell phone. There are mandatory payments, such as prepayment costing 5 rubles and subscription – 10.79 rubles per month. The latter includes calls on the Velkom 3G network.
The company’s assortment also includes a tariff that deserves special attention – “Super Web 5”. The minimum prepayment in this package will be the same price as in the previous one, but the subscription fee will cost 8.5 rubles per month. But calls will cost more, 0.16 rubles on the VELKOM network and 0.37 rubles on all others. The main advantage of this tariff is 5 GB of Internet traffic and further payment for it at an affordable price - 2 kopecks per 10 MB.
For guests of Belarus, VELKOM has provided a “Tourist” package. It does not require a mandatory fee at all. For the comfort of visitors, the company offers 2 GB of traffic and 100 minutes of calls to any operators. To buy a tariff, you need to pay only 15 rubles.
You can connect services on the official website or in special stores. Professional consultants will help you understand all the intricacies and become part of the big VELKOM family by making the right choice of tariff.
| Comparison of Velcom cellular tariffs | ||||
| Tariff/service | Subscription fee | Conversations | SMS (per piece) | Internet |
| Outgoing | Outgoing | |||
| For newbies | 5.4 rub./month + prepayment 5 rub. | Unlimited on all networks | 0.04 rub. | 20 GB |
| Comfort | – | 100 minutes to all networks | – | 1 GB |
| Super Web 5 | 8.5 rub./month + prepayment 5 rub. | 0.16 rub. within the network, for other operators 0.37 rubles. | – | 5 GB, and if the limit is exhausted 2 kopecks for 10 MB |
| Tourist | The cost of the tariff upon purchase is 15 rubles. | 100 min for any operators | – | 2 GB |
| Standard | Subscriber fee 10.79 per month + prepayment 5 rubles | For landline and other operators – 0.14 rubles/min | 0.04 rub. | – |
Incoming calls and SMS are free on all tariffs.
Life
LIFE:) is the youngest provider among the largest (cellular) operators in Belarus, created in 2004. Takes 3rd place in the rating (operators) and in this moment occupies 11% of the market share with a subscriber base of 1.26 million people. Provides services mobile communications and Internet, provides access to a high-speed 4th generation connection (LTE). 
Tariffs provided by the operator:
- “Voice 2” (calls) - a subscription fee of 6.9 rubles includes unlimited within the network, 100 minutes outside the operator’s coverage area and 1 GB (Internet) traffic. After 100 minutes, the subscriber is offered a tariff of 0.08 rubles per minute. Sending messages is not included in the subscription fee and is paid separately in the amount of 0.04 rubles per message.
- “Internet 5 GB” - a fee of 8.9 rubles provides the subscriber with 5 GB of traffic (within the network) - as indicated in the name. Calls to both LIFE subscribers and subscribers of other networks are charged at the same rate of 0.08 rubles per minute. Messages are paid for in the same amount as specified in the “Voice 2” tariff. There is no subscription fee, because When the (Internet) traffic is exhausted, a repeat payment is requested.
The total cost of the two tariffs is 15.8 rubles.
How to call Belarus from Russia
It also happens that tourists from Belarus come to Russia and they also need to make calls to their homeland. And it happens that such a need arises among Russians. To get through, you need to understand the dialing codes and rules.
The country prefix at the international level is 375. To make a call using a landline telephone, you must first “go out” to the long-distance telephone line (via 8), and then to the communication center (via 10).
When calling to cellular telephone instead of +7 put + 375.
For clarity, let's look at examples:
- Call Belarus from a mobile phone: + 375 XXX XXX XX XX .
- To a landline: dial the number 8, wait for the dial tone, dial 10 and 375, followed by the city prefix and landline phone number.
Using an example, consider a call to Minsk: dial 8, wait for the dial tone, then 375 and the Minsk code 070, and then the city number, for example, 1345789.
Prefixes of Belarusian cities (codes of mobile operators in Belarus):
- 070 – Minsk;
- 0162 – Brest;
- 015 – Grodno;
- 02230 – Gomel;
- 0212 – Vitebsk;
- 0222 – Mogilev.
How to call Russia from Belarus
Code Russian Federation– number 7. When calling a landline phone, first you need to get an international connection: while in Belarus you need to dial the code 810. Example of a call to a Moscow number (area code 495): 810 7 495 456 39 97
If you are wondering: how to call from Russia to Belarus on a cell phone, you do not need to enter anything additional. Example: +7 951 409 89 39.
Conclusion
When choosing the optimal tariff for communication in Belarus, you should understand what is your priority: calls, SMS or the Internet. For some, everything is important, for others calls and SMS, and others prefer only the Internet. Therefore, operators have learned to adapt to customer requirements and have developed a variety of profitable options. Before calling Life in Belarus or any other operator, check the cost per minute so as not to end up at zero. Also, when purchasing a SIM card, it is appropriate to find out about the tariff and its capabilities.
Market situation mobile services Belarus is very similar to Russia: there are also three operators, one of which is MTS. Only Belarusian. True, this does not prevent him from occupying one of the leading positions: best quality connections and belonging to one of the most popular brands do their job.
The remaining members of the Big Three - Life and Velcom - have a slightly less powerful infrastructure, although in general they provide an acceptable quality of service. In addition, they offer flexibility and reasonable tariff prices.
Recently, the local market was stirred up by information that the governments of Russia and Belarus are planning to abolish roaming for communication services between countries, similar to the European law that came into force in July 2020. However, the prospects are still unclear: mobile operators in both countries are against it, which is quite logical, since their profits will fall.
Where to buy a SIM card
When it comes to purchasing SIM cards and connecting tariffs, Belarus is no different from Russia. You can buy and activate a SIM card either independently or at any mobile phone store - they will connect you if you have documents, which would be a Russian citizen’s passport.
Cost of SIM cards different operators is different, but the meaning is the same - you make an advance payment, and the card itself is free. Prices average 5-7 Belarusian rubles (or 150-200 Russian).
Cellular tariffs for tourists
There are two interesting offers on the market - from MTS and Life, which will undoubtedly be beneficial to tourists arriving in the country.
MTS - “Easy to say”
- Price: 3 bel. rub., hereafter 59 kopecks. per month subscription fee(even a tourist can connect).
- The cost of a minute of conversation with Russia: 0.43 Belarusian rubles or 12 Russian rubles.
The closest competitor is the S tariff from Life
- Price: 7 bel. rub.
- Cost of a minute of conversation with Russia: 0.45 Belarusian (or 13 Russian) rubles per minute.
How to call Belarus from Russia
The international prefix of the country is 375. To successfully make a call to a landline phone, first go to the long-distance telephone line (via 8), and then to the international communication center (via 10). You can call a cell phone using the code +375 instead of “seven”.
To mobile phone
An example of dialing a mobile phone in Belarus:
375-ХХХ-ХХХ-ХХ-ХХ.
To a landline phone
Your procedure:
- dial “8”, wait for the beep;
- dial “10”, “375”, then the prefix of the locality;
- dial a landline phone number.
An example for dialing to Minsk (other Belarusian city codes can be seen below):
- 8 (beep) 10, then 375 and 070 (Minsk code), then the conventional city number 1234567.
Prefixes of cities in Belarus:
- Minsk - 070;
- Vitebsk - 0212;
- Grodno - 015;
- Mogilev - 0222;
- Gomel - 02230-;
- Brest - 0162.
How to call Russia from Belarus
The code of the Russian Federation in the international prefix system is 7. In the case of calls to a landline telephone, you first need to access international communication: in Belarus, for this you should dial 810. If the call is to a mobile phone, you do not need to dial anything additional.
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It is important to know
All call rates from Belarus
When traveling around the world in different directions, it is always important to be able to stay in touch and be available for calls from loved ones or work colleagues. For this purpose, Beeline has a special service that allows you to use cellular services without connecting to a local telecom operator. What tariffs are offered as part of the Beeline roaming service in Belarus? Let's take a closer look.
First of all, regarding connectivity. Beeline roaming in Belarus is activated automatically as soon as the subscriber enters the service area of the local cellular operator. Thus, no prior connection is required.
It is worth noting that fees are charged strictly based on the use of services.
That is, until the client receives incoming call or no outgoing call is made, the daily package of minutes will not be activated and the fee for it will not be charged. The same applies to the Internet, the megabyte package will not be activated until the connection is made. Therefore, in order to avoid unnecessary unplanned expenses, while roaming, you should disable all applications that automatically connect to the Internet.
Beeline roaming in Belarus: call costs
Many people are interested in the cost of calls and messages when staying on the territory of Belarus, how to roughly calculate the possible costs of mobile communications? To determine costs, you need to focus on the terms of provision of the “Most Profitable Roaming” service from Beeline in the CIS countries.
- Upon use of communication services, 200 rubles are deducted from the subscriber one-time, at the expense of which a package of 10 minutes is activated. They must be spent within the current day. The remaining minutes do not carry over to the next day, so it is better to spend them immediately. In the next billing period, the package is renewed under the same conditions.
- If the package of minutes has ended, but the need to talk on the phone remains, then a minute of conversation over the standard package costs 10 rubles.
- If a traveler needs to send an SMS message, then regardless of the direction, its cost will be 20 rubles.
Calls are charged per minute, payment is charged from the first second. It is worth noting that the change of day occurs according to the local time in which the subscriber is located.
Internet cost
Another important companion for every traveler is mobile Internet. Being away from friends and family, you want to always be in touch online, share news, photos and general impressions. What Internet prices does Beeline provide to a subscriber located in Belarus?
- As part of the service, when a subscriber connects to the Internet, a daily package of 40 megabytes of mobile Internet is automatically activated. The cost of the package is 200 rubles and is charged immediately at the time of connection. As practice shows, this volume is quite enough to use social media. networks, check emails and don’t get lost.
- If the package is exhausted, but the need for the Internet remains, then further connection occurs at a price of 5 rubles for each megabyte of traffic.
Thus, the total cost of one day of stay in Belarus for a Beeline subscriber will cost 400 rubles, subject to active use of communications. If you save money and don't call mobile phone every day, and also use the Internet less often than usual, you can save a lot, since payment for the services provided is charged only upon use.
We studied the cost of services of the three main Belarusian mobile operators. Office Life presents the Mobile Communications Index.
Today in Belarus, mobile telecommunications services are provided by three operators: "BeST", "MTS" And "Velcom". Their total subscriber base is 11.4 million subscribers.
Velcom has been operating on the market the longest (since 1999). Today it owns 43% of the Belarusian mobile communications market. The youngest operator is Life:) with a market share of 11%. MTS has the largest subscriber base - 5.29 million subscribers, or 46% of the market.
According to BelTA.
What should a foreigner take into account?
You need to buy SIM cards in Belarus from certified dealers. A passport is required to conclude a contract.
In the absence of registration (including temporary registration) on the territory of Belarus, a guest from abroad can count on an extremely limited range of tariffs from all mobile operators, usually without a subscription fee.
In Belarus there are many opportunities to top up your personal account balance. This can be done at the operator’s corporate center, at a bank, at the post office, through mobile banking and Internet banking, with an express payment card, using payment terminals, ATMs, etc.
MTS
Calls
Rate "Easy to say", as you might guess from the name, is designed for conversations. It involves a small monthly fee and moderate call costs. The features of the tariff include profitable calls to MTS subscriber numbers and a bonus in the form of a monthly Internet traffic package (data transfer/reception) of 50 MB. By the way, calls on the MTS network are charged differently (the price for the first 3 minutes per day is 0.08 rubles per minute, then 0.03 rubles), so for our calculations we took the arithmetic average.
Conditions of the tariff “Easy to say”
- the first 3 minutes a day - 0.08 rubles;
- after 3 minutes a day - 0.03 rub.
- to city and long-distance phones - 0.15 rubles;
- to phones of other mobile operators - 0.15 rubles.
SMS (per 1 message):
- to phones of MTS and other mobile operators - 0.02 rubles.
Obligatory payments:
- initial advance payment - 3 rubles;
- subscription fee - 0.59 rub. per month.
Internet
Within the Internet line, you only need to pay for connected services. Rate "Internet BIT" provides unlimited Internet, which satisfies our needs (5 GB). There is one important “but”: we will receive only 100 MB of traffic per day at unlimited speed, the rest of the traffic will be at speeds up to 256 Kbps. This is quite enough for surfing the Internet, but for watching movies high quality- hardly.
There are, by the way, more profitable options for getting the desired 5 GB per month. For example, nothing prevents you from choosing a tariff with a minimum subscription fee, for example the same “Easy to Say”, and connecting to the “MiniBIT” package (0.23 rubles per day). It will be cheaper. The conditions are the same as for the BIT service, with traffic per day at unlimited speed - only 50 MB.
Conditions of the Internet BIT tariff
Calls on the MTS network (in 1 minute):
- to the phones of MTS subscribers - 0.19 rubles.
Calls to other networks (in 1 minute):
- to city and long-distance phones - 0.33 rubles;
- to phones of other mobile operators - 0.33 rubles.
SMS (per 1 message):
- to phones of MTS and other mobile operators - 0.06 rubles.
Obligatory payments:
- advance payment in the amount of the monthly cost of the BIT service.
When it comes to MTS, one cannot fail to mention one of the company’s flagship tariffs - "Unlimited". It includes unlimited Internet and 400 minutes to all networks monthly and costs 15.9 rubles. per month.
MTS has tariffs specifically for guests of the country, for example, “Guest 7”. The fee for 7 days will be 6 rubles. The tariff includes 1 GB of Internet traffic for a week, and the cost of calls to other countries is reduced. Calls to all networks - 0.07 rub. in a minute.
Velcom
Calls
In tariff "Comfort" includes unlimited minutes on the Velcom 3G network, 100 minutes on all networks, as well as 1 GB of Internet traffic. There is a promotion for new Velcom subscribers: for the same tariff the monthly fee is 5.4 rubles. per month (discount is provided for 90 days), unlimited outgoing to all networks from the Velcom 3G network plus 20 GB of Internet traffic.
Conditions of the Comfort tariff
- in the Velcom 3G network - the fee is included in the subscription fee;
- on the Velcom 2G network - 0.03 rubles.
Calls to other networks (in 1 minute):
- to fixed line telephones (includes urban, rural and long distance communication within Belarus) - 0.14 rubles;
- to phones of other mobile operators - 0.14 rubles.
SMS (per 1 message):
Obligatory payments:
- subscription fee - 10.79 rubles. per month.
Internet
Rate "Super WEB 5" includes 5 GB of Internet traffic. With further use of the Internet, the cost will be 2 kopecks per 10 MB.
Conditions of the “Super WEB 5” tariff
Calls on the Velcom network (in 1 minute):
- to phones of Velcom subscribers - 0.16 rubles.
Calls to other networks (in 1 minute):
- to landline telephones (includes city, rural and long-distance communications) - 0.37 rubles;
- to phones of other mobile operators - 0.37 rubles.
SMS (per 1 message):
- short SMS messages- 0.04 rub.
Obligatory payments:
- minimum prepayment - 5 rubles;
- subscription fee - 8.5 rub. per month.
Velcom offers rates for Belarusian guests and travelers. For example, tariff "Tourist" does not provide a subscription fee and includes a bonus when connecting 2 GB of Internet traffic and 100 minutes to all networks. At the same time, the initial payment when purchasing the “PRIVET” service is 15 rubles, a one-time payment for activating services tariff plan- 9.9 rub. The initial payment is made when connecting to a tariff plan. After the activation fee is debited, the remaining amount constitutes the subscriber’s initial balance and can be used to pay for PRIVET services.
Life:)
Calls
Calls on the Life:) network (in 1 minute):
within the network - the fee is included in the subscription fee.
Calls to other networks (in 1 minute):
- all networks in Belarus - 0.08 rub.
Office Life Index
| Cost of 100 minutes to all networks | Average cost of 1 minute to all networks | Cost of 5 GB of traffic | Cost of 1 GB of traffic | Total cost 100 minutes and 5 GB of traffic | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MTS | 12,406 | 0,12 | 8,5 | 1,7 | 20,91 |
| Velcom | 10,79 | 0,11 | 8,5 | 1,7 | 19,29 |
| Life:) | 6,9 | 0,07 | 8,9 | 1,78 | 15,8 |
| Office Life Index | 10,03 | 0,10 | 8,6 | 1,73 | 18,67 |
* All prices are in Belarusian rubles.