Country Information

Country Code: . Calls from some remote parts of the country must be placed through the international operator. There are many public telephones in the main towns, from which telephone cards are used.

Roaming agreements exist with most international mobile phone companies. Coverage is patchy to good in most of the country. It is easy to purchase domestic SIM cards.

There are fewer internet centres in Sofia and Plovdiv than there used to be owing to high rent, but there are a few internet gaming rooms. Varna has several places in the town centre, and the beach resorts have some facilities. Most major hotels have internet connection, and some have Wi-Fi access.

Bulgaria enjoys a relatively free press, although most media outlets are aligned to one political party. Bulgaria passed a broadcasting law in 1996, one of the last European countries to do so. National radio and TV were given the status of public services and granted independence. bTV, Bulgaria's first national commercial channel, was launched in May 2000 by Balkan News Corporation (part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation) and pulls in more than 35% of the TV audience. Nova TV won the bid for a second national commercial TV licence in 2003. Several privately-owned regional television stations are also on the air.The weekly newspaper, Sofia Echo, is available in English, as is the daily business publication Pari (Money). Both of these are available in print or online versions.

Airmail to Western Europe takes from four days to two weeks. The General Post Office in Sofia, at ulitsa Gurko 6, is open 24 hours.

Usually Mon-Sat 0830-1730.