There are four types of pay phones in Moscow which are paid with so-called smart cards (matrix cards or cards having a micro-chip).

TYPNote: When buying telephone cards pay attention to the fact that cards belonging to one system cannot be used in phones of another system. Make sure that the system of the card coincides to the system on the pay phone. Credit cards can be only used in Comstar pay phones.

1. The largest representative of communications service is Moscow City Telephone Network or MGTS. They have 30 000 pay phones ( including 2800 Spanish pay phones Ampir which work with telephone cards). Most of them work with tokens (zhetony) which are sold in Pechat kiosks, in Mosgorspravka kiosks and in the Metro.
The phones are usually small in size of metallic color with a plastic cover of different colors. They are located in convenient places such as bus stops, metro stations, shops, etc. Pay phones work with smart cards in the following denominations: 30, 50, 100 (minutes of call time). Smart cards are sold only in the Metro. Blue-gray pay phones are located at Metro transfer crossings. Both types of pay phones are only for calls inside the city.
Degtyarnyy per., 6, str. 2
Tel. 299-2885, 209-4735
Fax. 209-7854
Telex. 411727 MGTS
www.mgts.ru, www.hallo.ru

2. Comstar Telecommunications - 130 pay phones.
This is a MGTS integrated network - the connection is made through autonomous cables (for emergency cases satellite communications are used).
Pay phones are of light blue color, situated at Sheremetevo-1 and Sheremetevo-2, hotels: Ukraina, Metropol, Rossiya, Izmaylovo etc.
Types of calls: local, intercity, international. Payment is made by either a personal Comstar card, or credit card: VISA, EC/MC, AMEX, DINERS Club. Phone calls are made directly or through an operator.
3-ya Tverskaya-Yamskaya ul., 39/5
Tel. 956-0000
Fax. 956-0238
E-mail REQUEST@COMSTAR.RU
www.comstar.ru

3. MMT (Moscow International and Intercity Telephone). Pay phones are found at post offices and telegraphs. No local calls can be made. Phone calls can be made directly with a phone card called Urmed or with the help of an operator.
TsPP (International & Intercity Telephone)
Tverskaya ul., 7
Tel. 229-3918

4. Access - American pay phones, orange color. Work with a phone access card which can be used for local, intercity or international calls. The cards are in 125, 250, 500, 1000 minute denominations.

Within the City: To call within the city look for pay phones (Taksofony). 1) get your token ready by placing it in the slot, 2) dial number, 3) if phone answers, the token will drop. Officially you get three minutes, it is often longer.
Pay phones are found in vestibules at metro stations, on busy city streets and in many public places (theaters, cafes, museums).

Between Cities: To call between cities look for an office or booth marked for Intercity Telephone, (Mezhdugorodnyy Telefon). Have a good supply of tokens.

Public telephones are widespread on the streets of most Russian cities. There are still the old token phones as well as different types of cards-accepting phones. Be careful when buying cards (from the ticket booth of metro stations) as different phones take different cards. Plus, some pay phones don't allow international or even national calls.