Texting to Russia

[ianjohnson]

Hope someone can give me a solution to a problem we are having.

My wife and i have a very good friend who has gone to Russia for three years to study.

We have tried to text her on the O2 network but none of our texts have got to her.

We have also tried to call her but all we get is a "dead line"

We have verified our friends number and all is as it should be.

We can email ok which is how we know our texts are not getting to her.

She also cannot get her texts or calls to us.

She is using a Russia SIM card ( don't know the carrier unfortunately ).We are on O2.

Does anyone have any ideas as to things we can try ?

Not sure if it's network incompatibility or not but in the past we have texted and called friends and family in various parts of the world with no issues at all.

Any help very much appreciated.

Thank you.

[ianjohnson]

Thanks to all who have replied.

I am on live chat with a guru now.

Hopefully this can be sorted.

[Anonymous]

@ianjohnson

If your friend cannot ring or text you it could be a an international bar has been placed on their account which they will have to take with the service provider in Russia.

It's also technically feasible for an incoming international block to also be in place, again it will be down to the service provider.

When was the last time you communicated with them? It could just be a technical glitch.

[ianjohnson]

Thats the problem.

We have only been able to communicate via email as texts and calls do not get to her although they have been sent according to my account, and i have been charged !

[MI5]

Sounds like an issue with your friends network then in that case.
Can they check with their provider in Russia?

[Bambino]

@ianjohnson As I said in my first reply, you and your friend in Russia can both use WhatsApp over WiFi for free anywhere in the world. You can text, make voice calls and video calls for free as well. As long as you both have the app and are using WiFi, it's free. Doesn't matter which country you're in or if you're Pay & Go or Pay Monthly.

[ianjohnson · Accepted solution]

SOLVED !!!! (sort of )

It turns out that our friend has a network operator that will not allow calls or texts outside of Russia.
She also cannot change the SIM for a different provider as they are area specific and no other operator is allowed to have customers in the region she is in ( so much for Glasnost ) or however you spell it.

So it looks like it's email only from now.

Thanks to all for suggestions, much appreciated.

[Cleoriff]

I'm pleased it's sort of solved @ianjohnson.

However,  I am speechless at that sort of network restriction in Russia. Beggars belief really...

Edited to ask whether you can use messenger or whatsapp over wifi?

[ianjohnson]

We definitely can use Whatsapp, but wether it's allowed in Russia is another question altogether.

We are working on it with our friend to see if it is available over there.

Many thanks to all.