The Bulgarian Telecom:
www.btc.bg and
www.telecom.bg.
You will find 3 types of pay phones in operation. For the coin phones you need 50 stotinki tokens, which can be bought at many kiosks. And there are card phones of two types: Mobika (blue phones) and Bulfon (orange phones) with cards for each ranging in price from 4 to 25 Leva. They can be bought at certain shops, kiosks or post offices.
Europe, America, Near East, Japan, Africa and Australia can be dialed directly. For countries that cannot be called directly you must call the operator at 0123.
Public phones in Sofia are not callable. Bulgaria's country code is +359 , 2 is the area code for Sofia. ??
For international calls you may purchase an Orbitel card, see www.orbitel.bg and for low cost calls. There is a local dial-in number, no incidental expenses, ready to use after purchasing. You get the Orbitel card in many shops all over Sofia and you can use it on every landline phone, including public phone booths. Other low cost phone card providers are Nexcom, www.nexcom.bg.
Important phone numbers
Police 166
Fire 160
Ambulance 150
Road Assistance 91146 ??
Traffic police 165
Phone Directory Bulgaria 144 (office numbers) 145 (private numbers)
Phone Directory International n/a
Telegrams 149
International operator 0123
Operator 121
On-duty pharmacies 178 (tape in Bulgarian)
Theater performances in Sofia 171 (tape in Bulgarian)
National Palace of Culture schedule 174 (tape in Bulgarian)
Cinema program 191 (tape in Bulgarian)
Some area codes
Sofia 02
Blagoevgrad 073
Bourgas 056
Pleven 064
Plovdiv 032
Rousse 082
Varna 052
Veliko Turnovo 062
Long Distance Calls
Inside Bulgaria dial 0 and the area code, for international calls dial 00 and country code. If you call Bulgaria from the US, dial 011 first, then 359 for Bulgaria, regional code (e.g. 2 for Sofia), and then the phone number.
Faxes
A public fax station is at 4 Gen. Gurko Street
International direct access providers
AT&T World Connect Service:
MCI WorldPhone Servive:
Sprint:
Australia Direct:
Canada Direct:
France:
Germany Direct:
Mobile phones
In Bulgaria, the GSM mobile phone network is operating. Providers:
Mtel (Prima)
Home page: (Prefix is +359 88 from abroad or 088 inside Bulgaria)
Globul (Bconnect)
Home page: (Prefix is +359 89 from abroad or 089 inside Bulgaria)
Mobikom
Home page: (Prefix is +359 48 from abroad or 048 inside Bulgaria)
Mobile phones from North America do not work on the GSM Network.
Internet cafés
Garibaldi Internet Cafe
Home page 6 Graf Ignatiev Street 1st floor, Garibaldi square, 1000 Sofia, Phone +359 2 9894285. Open 24 hours. All-day rate: 1,60 BGL per hour; Discount 5,00 BGL for whole night long (10:00 pm - 9:00 am).
Internet cafe
With printing, scanning and cd-burning facilities. 45 Vitosha street, Sofia 1000, Phone: +359 2 986 08 96, Web Home page. Open 24 hours, All-day rate: 1,80 BLG per hour, email: info@siteout.net
Star gate
Very fast Ethernet connection, surfing, emails, voice mails, scanning, printing
color/black & white, chatting, all types of music. Pozitano 20 street, Sofia 1000, Web: Home page. Open 24 hours, All-day rate: 1 BLG per hour,
email: bogolito@abv.bg
Cyberia
The best Internet Cafe in Sofia, 18b Stefan Karadja street, Sofia 1000, Web: Home page. Open 24 hours, All-day rate: 1 BLG per hour, Phone: +359 2 9862791, email: cyberia@c4.com
Internet Access for Notebooks and PC`s
Please be aware that electricity is 220 volts in Bulgaria and you may need a different power-pack.
Dial Up Connections
If you bring your own laptop to Bulgaria and you want to be connected to the Internet, you may buy dial up Internet access (a card with user name and password and a local dial in number). Please ask at computer shops where to buy the cards. For sure this is a more reasonable solution than using access/providers like AOL or Compuserve, since they charge approx. 5 USD surcharge for global access. Much easier than dial up is it to use wifi connections.
WiFi Connections
Recently free WiFi hot spots opened in Sofia: XXXXXXX
TV Cable and Cable Connections
If you stay at least 3 month in Sofia you may decide to get internet conection through cable and TV cable provider. Or you choose an ISDN coonection, available from the Bulgarian Telecom company BTC.
Language & Dictionary
If you do not know what it means ... use a free online dictionary (interactive):
There is one from Ectaco:
Online Dictionary
Bulgarian Alphabet with Transcription
А а
A
as in cat
П п
P
as in pot
Б б
B
as in bus
Р р
R
as in red
В в
V
as in very
С с
S
as in sit
Г г
G
as in good
Т т
T
as in tree
Д д
D
as in dog
У у
U
as in yule
Е е
E
as in egg
Ф ф
F
as in foot
Ж ж
Zh
like's' in leisure
Х х
Kh
like 'ch' in Bach
З з
Z
as in zoo
Ц ц
Ts
as in puts
И и
I
as in instant
Ч ч
Ch
as in check
Й й
Y
as in young
Ш ш
Sh
as in shut
К к
K
as in kick
Щ щ
Sht
like 'shed' in pushed
Л л
L
as in love
Ъ ъ
A
like 'u' in but
М м
M
as in marry
Ь ь
(Y)
softening sound
Н н
N
as in no
Ю ю
Yu
like you
О о
O
as in hot
Я я
Ya
as in yank
Translations & Interpreter
If you need a text to be translated or an interpreter for meetings let us know and we will try to find someone who is available. Please let us know the languages involved and if you need a text to be translated (If so: What kind of text is it? A private text, an official text? A text
that concerns legal issues?) or if you need to hire an interpreter (for which dates, at what times and for how many hours?). Please contact us.
Foreign Language Media
Further resources for tourists are newspapers & magazines in foreign languages, purchasable at train stations and newsstands downtown. Practically all the well known international press publications can be purchased in the larger hotels and from news-agents. Some of the foreign language press published in Bulgaria:
Sofia Echo, www.sofiaecho.com
Sofia City guide, www.sofiacityguide.com, monthly guide
Sofia Insiders` guide, 4 season guide
Second hand books in English are selling at the book stalls on the streets.
Every video rental store offers a large selection of English language videos.
Radio & TV
There are a lot of American, British, German, Austrian, French, English, Italian and Spanish channels on the Sofia TV cable networks.
Country Facts
Communication
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