Telephones

There are public phone booths located all over the towns, especially around the entrance of the post offices. There are also regular phones at the post offices. A phone card is necessary to operate public phones; phone cards are for sale at the post office or from street vendors designated by the post office. Other street vendors and newspaper stands may also sell the phone cards, but prices are frequently more than at the post office. Phone cards come in 30, 60, or 100 units of credit; the time-equivalent for each unit depends on whether it is a local or international call. Simply insert the phone card, dial, talk, hang up and retrieve the card. There are no slots on pay phones for credit cards. For long calls, the phones at the post office may be more suitable, since one is not confined to a phone card. Simply talk and pay the amount due to the post office clerk without the hassle of changing cards. These phones are available only when the post offices are open. The charges for both kinds of phones are exactly the same. In larger cities, there are phone/fax centers where one can more conveniently make long calls and send faxes. In these offices, a customer can use a phone for whatever length of time and then pay cash to a cashier. This is a more expensive option than using a phone card.