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Communications

Internet

Internet is widely available at hotels and many provide Wi-Fi. Cafés with Internet stations are also all over Prague and you'll find you can check your e-mail everywhere from the local bookstore to the Laundromat.

Phones

The country code for the Czech Republic is 420. To call the Czech Republic from outside the country, dial the international access prefix, then "420," and then the nine-digit Czech number. To call from the U.S., for example, dial "011-420-xxx-xxx-xxx."

Calling Within the Czech Republic

Now that most people in Prague have mobile phones, working phone booths are harder to find. If you can't find a working booth on the street, the telephone office of the main post office is the best place to try. Once inside, follow signs for telegraf/telefax.

Coin-operated pay phones are rare. Most newer public phones operate only with a special telephone card, available from post offices and some newsstands in denominations of 150 Kc and up. Since the boom in mobile phone use, both the cards and working pay phones are becoming scarce. A short call within Prague costs a minimum of 4 Kc from a coin-operated phone or the equivalent of 3.5 Kc (1 unit) from a card-operated phone. The dial tone is a series of alternating short and long buzzes.

You can reach an English-speaking operator from one of the major long-distance services on a toll-free number. The operator will connect your collect or credit-card call at the carrier's standard rates. In Prague, many phone booths allow direct international dialing.

There are no regional or area codes in the Czech Republic. Numbers that start with the first three digits running from 601 to 777, however, are mobile phones and the charge may be correspondingly higher. When calling a Czech number from within the Czech Republic, do not use the country code or any prefixes; simply dial the nine-digit number.

Calling Outside the Czech Republic

When dialing out of the country, the country code is 1 for the United States and Canada. To dial overseas directly, first dial 00 and then the country code of the country you are calling. A call to the United States or Canada, for example, would begin 00-1, followed by the U.S. or Canadian area code and number.

The post office telephone operator can place your international call, or simply ask the receptionist at your hotel to put the call through for you. In the latter instance, the surcharges and rates will probably be very high.

Access Codes

AT&T (0/042-000-101). BT Direct (0/042-004-401). CanadaDirect (0/042-000-151). MCI (0/042-000-112). Sprint (0/042-087-187).

Other Contacts

International Operator (133004). International Directory Assistance (1181).

Calling Cards

With the prepaid Karta X (300 Kc to 1,000 Kc), rates to the U.S. are roughly 13 Kc per minute; a call to the U.K. costs about 12 Kc per minute. The cards are available at many money-changing stands and can work with any phone once you enter a 14-digit code. You do not need to find a booth with a card slot to use the cards.