Scores of men communicating with Ukrainian, Russian, and Eastern European women are habitually paying hundreds of dollars to PPL (pay per letter) dating sites to send and receive messages and chat online. But what are real costs of Internet and mobile phone access in Russia, Ukraine, or Belarus?
You may be aware that in Ukraine, for example, some people are earning only $200-300 in monthly wages. Nevertheless, all of them have mobile phones and use Internet daily. How is it possible on their salaries?
$2/month for Unlimited Internet Access + Mobile Phone
It is possible because prices for mobile phone plans and Internet access are very low throughout Russia, Ukraine, and other former USSR countries.
If you are paying $3-5 for each message to send or receive through PPL dating sites, you will be shocked to discover that it costs only $2/month in Ukraine for a mobile phone account with unlimited Internet access.
Prices of mobile phone plans with Internet access in Ukraine start from $2/month.
In other words, not only the lady you are corresponding with can receive your calls to her mobile phone, but she can also communicate with you as much as she wants online by Skype or email, all for only $2/month.
How much are you paying to PPL sites?
There is no woman aged over 18 who doesn’t have a mobile phone in Ukraine or Russia. There are mobile phone plans with Internet access included, which are popular among smartphone users. She can receive your messages, texts or emails on her mobile and answer them any time of the day. The first thing people do when they are having a cup of coffee in a café is to find the password for a free Wi-Fi.
Every mobile device is able to run a translation app, which means that even if she doesn’t speak fluent English, she is can translate your messages through the app. Language translation apps work well, and many are free to download. Bear in mind that every school graduate in post-USSR countries had studied a foreign language (usually English) for 5 years and had to pass an exam at the end; they can read and understand English texts.
The whole premise of PPL is paying for communication. You don’t need to do that. You can simply talk to any Ukrainian woman for free through her $2 mobile phone account with unlimited Internet access. If you have paid more than $100 to communicate with any woman on a PPL site, you could have purchased her a brand new smartphone loaded with unlimited Internet for a year instead.
Costs of Smartphones
In Russia with its population of 146 million people, 4.7 million smartphones had been sold for the first 3 months of 2015 (January-March), according to Gazeta.ru. In other words, 1 in 31 people purchased a new smartphone in the space of 90 days.
Yandex Market lists smartphones with prices from $47.
Remember, this activity happened after the crisis, with the Russian national currency, Rouble, only carrying 1/2 of its value today as compared to January 2014.
Yandex Market, the major comparative listing of goods and prices in Russia, displays large numbers of smartphones for sale, with the cheapest models listed at less than $50:
- CUBOT CT72 2453 Rubles ($47)
- CUBOT GT95 2869 Rubles ($54)
- ZTE Open 4109 Rubles ($78)
Certainly, less expensive models may not be as versatile as the latest Samsung or iPhone, but they still do the job: connect you to the mobile network and Internet.
Mobile Phone Plans in Russia
MTS, Megafon, and Beeline offer comparable mobile phone packages with unlimited Internet access in Russia.
Juliana from Russia says:
“More and more people in Russia have access to iNet wherever they go (busy hectic life, etc). Internet providers in Russia have unlimited data plans. You just pay certain amount of money for Internet each month and use as much data as you wish. If we talk about mobile operators, you just pay certain amount a month and this would be for calls and the Internet (some plans are with limited data but most of them and, of course, the most popular ones are with unlimited Internet access). Also we have Internet access in almost each cafe (even the smallest ones).”
Most popular Russian providers:
Plans for mobile phone calls + unlimited Internet access are 250-300 Rubles/month ($4.7-6/month).
Mobile Phone Plans in Ukraine
Life and Kievstar offer most popular smartphone plans in Ukraine.
Vika from Ukraine says:
“This service is really cheap in Ukraine. Calls to the same mobile provider are free. Mobile providers have not increased their prices since 2014 and the exchange rate (hryvnia – US dollar) has changed dramatically, so now it’s only $1-2 per month for a mobile phone with unlimited Internet access.”
Most popular Ukrainian providers:
- MTS: on average about 40 hryvnia/month (about $2); most plans have unlimited Internet.
- Kievstar: from 20 to 90 hryvnia/month (about $1-4); Internet from 10Mb to unlimited. On average about 40 hrn ($2) with unlimited Internet.
- Life: about 40 hryvnia/month ($2) and Internet is unlimited.
Kievstar is known for the best connection, and Life is the cheapest.
Mobile Phone Plans in Belarus
Main providers:
Main Belarus mobile providers are MTS and Velcom.
Popular plans:
- MTS-Smart (for smartphones): $5.5/month + usage over included limits. Includes 750 MB of the Internet (data transmission/reception) and 750 minutes within the network monthly. After 750 min per month calls are $0.01 within the MTS network. After free 750 Mb Mobile internet is $0.02 for 1Mb.
- MTS-Excellent: $3.80/month + usage over limits. Free calls within the MTS network from the 2nd minute of conversation and 50 MB of traffic. 1st min of conversation $0.02 within the MTS network, from the second min of conversation $0 within the MTS network. Calls to other mobile networks per minute – 60 minutes per month; $0.02 to local and intercity landlines within Belarus and to other Belarus mobile networks.
- Velcom Smart Premiere (for smartphones): $4.15/month. 500 min for calls to 5 chosen numbers + 500MB of internet traffic. Call costs: $0.03 within the network, 0.09 to other mobile networks or local landlines.
- Velcom mobile plans (calls only) from $1.30 to $2.70/month. Adding mobile internet: from $0.9 for 250MB to $8.30 for 3000MB/month.
Unlimited Communication
Just like Russian and Ukrainian providers offer unlimited data transfer and calls on their plans, Elena’s Models offer unlimited messaging and chat with all your contacts included in every membership package.
Any Russian or Ukrainian lady genuinely interested in meeting a man from another country will have her own Internet access. If she is unwilling to spend $2 on contact with someone who can change her life and help her fulfil her Destiny, it’s unlikely she is going to move to another country to be with you. With EM, you have all the tools to make your connection successful, and enjoy unrestricted and uncensored interaction.
You don’t need to worry about paying per letter and escalated costs of dating someone who lives in another country. Share your contact information, exchange your phone numbers or Skype names, and communicate as much as you want!
Read also:
- The ugly truth about PPL dating sites for Ukrainian women
- Is PPL dating a scam? Truth about pay per letter dating sites
- What is PPL? Pay-per-letter and pay-per-minute relationships
- VIP coaching for men dating Russian and Ukraine women — Exclusive insights by a Certified Life Coach
>> All blog articles
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Megaphone is a great deal. I have an IPhone 6 and they replaced the SIM card for me. Very quick and easy. best part is that you can add minutes and texts to your phone almost anywhere at kiosks by simply putting your phone number and inserting rubles into the machine. These kiosks are everywhere.
Unfortunately the information about “$2/month for Unlimited Internet Access + Mobile Phone” tariff is not accurate. For $2 you’ll get just basic Internet access with 500 MB monthly prepaid traffic. This is sufficient for 3-4 days of good web surfing only! There is no mobile carrier in Ukraine providing REAL UNLIMITED internet access because they limit the bandwidth after certain traffic volume (depending on carrier).
For comfortable internet surfing, video conferencing, Skype, Youtube etc. the larger plans with 2,5-3 GB/month internet traffic are recommended. Their prices are appr. $4-8/month and sometimes more.
Inna,
Some men pay $3-5 for 1 short message sent to a lady (through Pay-per-letter dating sites). Watching YouTube on your phone will eat a lot of bandwich, obviously. My point is and you confirm it, for the money guys pay for only 1 (!) message, the woman could pay her mobile phone + Internet for a month.
People get money using the desire of young people to buy expensive phones with many functions and the desire to change them very-very often. Some children also want their parents to spend much money for different gadgets and the parents can not refuse. It is the matter of choice. I need a mobile phone just for speaking and sending messages. I do not need any camera, I do not need the Internet in my phone.
Besides MTS and Velcom there is one more mobile provider in Belarus – Life. I like it most of all. It is the cheapest and the most qualitative. I pay about 2$ per month (including 1,2$ license fee). As for internet, I use unlimited internet for about 6,5$. But I am not pleased with it, there are failure everytime.
Personally I don’t have the necessary to use Internet regular. I mean, I use only wi-fi, and rarely when I am out of home. And that really cheeses me off when in a night club or on a beach I see the people bury themselves in a smartphone instead of dealing and having a rest with their friends. It’s really regrettably.
Hey, Elena. I got more questions for you. I was a member of a penpal website (site name hidden) and I was contacted by a “Russian lady” named “Tania” or “Tatiana” and “she” claimed that “she” wanted to get to know me but was conveniently never online when I wanted to chat with “her,” but “she” asked me for my contact information and I never gave it to “her” because I wanted to get to know “her” better on this site (name hidden). This “girl’s” profile said that “she” lived in Tver, Russia, but how convenient, “she” didn’t have Skype… Read more »
David, you seem to be a nice man. I will design a service specially for you, so guys who need my personal opinion can get a consultation.
Now, let me tell you about this recent invention called “Google”. You go to google.com and type your questions into the search box. For example, “how far is it from Tver to Moscow”. Then you will quickly get an answer! 😉
Thanks for answering my question Elena, and yes, I’ve heard of Google, I use it sometimes, I also want to thank you for the compliment. I was just raised that way.
Hi friends, my question is, even for someone living in Luhansk, Odesa, it is then possible to have a phone and internet in that region?
Luis, I think you are being scammed, judging by your question. Are you another victim of PPL dating sites with fake brides?
Is the cel phone costs still accurate?
Why wouldn’t they be?