Cambodia’s land-line system was totally devastated by the long civil war, Ieaving the country with a poor communications infrastructure. The advent of mobile phones has allowed Cambodia to catch up with its regional neighbors by jumping headlong into the technology revolution; Mobile phones are everywhere in Cambodia, but landline access in major towns is also improving, connecting more of the country to the outside world than ever before.
Domestic Calls
Local calls are usually pretty cheap, even from hotel rooms. Calling from province to province is considerably more expensive by fixed lines. The easiest way to call in most urban areas is to head to one of the many small private booths on the kerbside, usually plastered with numbers like 012 and 016 and prices like 300r. Operators have a selection of mobile phones and leased lines to ensure that any domestic number you want to call is cheap. Local phone calls can also be made on the MPTC and Camintel public payphones, which are sometimes still seen in places like Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Sihanoukville and Kompong Cham. It can sometimes be difficult to get through to numbers outside Phnom Penh, and there is no directory inquiries service. Some hotels have telephone directories for the capital you need to track down a number. Try to find a copy of the Yellow Pages(www.yellowpages.com.kh) which has a pretty comprehensive coverage of businesses, services and government offices.
Fax
Sending faxes is getting cheaper as telephone charges drop. The cheapest fax services are those via the Internet; these can be arranged at Internet cafts for around US$1 to US$2 a page. Some of the more popular midrange hotels have reliable business centres, but be aware that Cambodia’s top-end hotels have expensive business centres where sending a fax will cost three times the price charged elsewhere.
International Calls
There is now a whole lot more choice when It comes to calling overseas than in the bad old days of all calls going via Moscow. There are several telephone cards available for cardphones, several prepaid calling cards for use from any telephone, private booths run from mobile phones and the growing world of Internet phone calls. Calling from hotels attracts a surcharge and the more expensive the hotel, the heftier the hit. As a general rule, whichever way you choose to ring, it is a little cheaper to make a call at weekends.
The cheapest way to call internationally is via Internet phone. Most of the shops and cafes around the country providing Internet services also offer Internet calls. Calls usually cost between 200r and 2000r per minute, depending on the destination. Calling the USA and Europe is generally the cheapest, but there is a hefty surcharge for connecting to mobile numbers. While the price is undoubtedly right, the major drawback is that there is often a significant delay on the phone, making for a conversation of many ‘hellos?’ and ‘pardons?’
It is straightforward to place an international call from Ministry of Post Telecommunications (MPTC) or Camintel phone booths. Purchase a phone card, which in larger Cities can be bought at hotels, restaurants, post offices and many shops. Phone cards come in denominations if US$5 to US$50.
Before inserting the card into a public phone, always check that there is a readout on the liquid crystal display (LCD) unit. If there isn’t, it probably means the phone is broken or there is a power cut – inserting the card at these times can wipe the value off the card.
lf dialing from a mobile or using card phones, instead of using the original intentional access code of 001, try 007, which work out cheaper. The name is not Bond, but Tele2, a private operator that has recently set up shop in Cambodia.
Making calls from Battambang and the west of Cambodia is cheaper and the lines are clearer than in other parts of the country, as the lines are plugged into the Thailand network. Calls to Thailand are only 10B a minute and calls to the rest of the world work out at about US$2 a minute or less.
Mobile Phone
Telephone numbers starting with 011, 012 or 016 are mobile phone numbers. If you are traveling with a mobile phone on International roaming, just select a network upon arrival, dial away and await a hefty sphone bill once you return home. Note: Cambodian roaming charges are extra-ordinarily high.
Those who are planning on spending longer in Cambodia will want to hook up with a local network. Those with their own phone need only purchase a SIM card for one of the local service providers, but if you are traveling with a locked phone linked to your network back home, then you can’t switch SIM cards. However, mobile phones are very cheap in Cambodia and second- hand ones are widely available. Most of the local companies offer fix-contract deal with monthly bills, or pay-as-you-go cards for those who want flexibility. All offer regular promotions, so it is worth shopping around. Local companies based in Phnom Penh include the following:
• Camshin Tel 023-367801 – www.camshin.com – Add: 66 Mao Ste Toung Blvd
• Mobitel Tel 021 800 800 – www.mobiltel.com.kh – Add: 33 Sihanouk Blvd
• Samart Tel 016 810 011 – www.hellogsm.com.kh – Add: 58 Norodom Blvd