Internet Access

Getting Connected in Russia

Internet Access

Internet is available in Russia via dial-up, ADSL, WiFi and internet cafes. One of the easiest ways to access the Internet from home is by using a dial-up connection through your phone line.

For doing so, you can buy a pre-paid Internet card in newspaper kiosks. With the card you can login on the server of the provider and type in the serial number and the code of your card to access. Be prepared to dial more than once, as the lines are often busy.

Broadband connections in Russia

Broadband connections have become very affordable and very popular in Russia, especially in bigger cities. Nearly 40% of all households in Moscow have broadband access, with over 1.5 million subscribers.

The leading provider of broadband services is Comstar Direct. In other big Russian cities, the broadband penetration is still quite low, but this will change with the coming of new wireless technologies. Comstar UTS is going to build a nationwide Russian WiMAX-based network. In 2008, Moscow is expected to be completely covered by the network, with other cities soon to follow.

Alternatively, there are many wireless hotspots available to connect to the Internet in major cities. While some of them are free, others charge $5-$10 per hour.

Internet cafes

You can also go to Internet cafes to get access to the Web. They can be easily found, by walking down the street or by looking them up in the yellow pages. They are usually open 24 hours a day and offer many additional services like scanning and saving data. 1 hour of connection usually costs about $1-$2 US dollars.

Further reading

Does this article help?

Do you have any comments, updates or questions on this topic? Ask them here: