The public telephone booths work with cards which can be bought in post offices, kiosks or hotels. To call in the same city, one simply needs to dial the number of the correspondent.

The charge for every impulse (3 min) is 0.33 zl for local calls and 0.59 - 0.78 zl for long-distance calls, depending on the distance. It is much cheaper to make telephone calls between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. and at weekends; it concerns also connections with mobile phones.

Call Poland from abroad

From abroad, it is necessary to dial 00 48 then the code of the city and the phone number of the correspondent.

City codes

To call in another Polish city, one needs to dial the code of the city (22 for Warsaw).

Mobile phones companies in Poland

There are four mobile phone operators in Poland: Plus GSM (code 260 01), Era (260 02), Orange (260 03) and Play. The lastone is mainly using Plus GSM coverage network. Nearly all of the country's surface is covered by the standard European GSM 900/1800 MHz network. UMTS is available in some bigger cities. 

Due to the introduction of virtual brands, some operators now have two names for their pre-paid services: Plus has Sami Swoi and Simplus, Era - Heyah and Tak Tak, Orange - Pop and Orange Go. Domestic call rates are roughly the same across all services. 

Useful phone numbers

Police Tel. 997

Health care Tel. 999

Road service Tel. 981

Fire brigade Tel. 998

 

Telekomunikacja Polska S.A. (TPSA) is the main state company which provides telecommunication services. There are some other less significant firms in this field.

Post offices

Post offices in Poland are called "Urzad Pocztowy" or "Poczta" and can be found in most of the cities, small towns and even villages; mail boxes are red. When sending a letter abroad it pays off to buy a bit more expensive stamp and an air mail sticker, as it guarantees that the letter will be delivered within a relatively short time.

More and more phones using phone cards are being installed while the number of the phones using tokens is on the decrease. It is not customary to provide phone-boxes with directories. Chip cards are the most common method of paying for the telephone, it is useful to know that phone booths take two kinds of phone cards, including chip ones. Phone cards are available in many places, for instance at the newsagent's or post offices.

The internet

The Internet is readily available in most of Poland through either Internet Cafes or through Wi-Fi connections. Most Wi-Fi areas are located in airports, railway stations, cafes, malls, and in some market squares (like the one in Krakow). An internet café will typically cost 5-7 zl for an hour of use and while Wi-Fi is sometimes provided free of charge, it can sometimes be expensive. 

 

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Communication & language - Poland