In recent years, many new telephone boxes have been installed, and old ones
have been replaced by phonecard-operated machines.

There are no coin-operated telephones in Poland, and token-operated ones have
also been phased out.

The easiest way to make a call is from one of the phonecard-operated
machines. Phonecards are obtainable from post offices and newsagents. Some
of the new generation of public telephones (which are a silver colour) also
take credit cards and chip cards; these are specially marked. Calls can also
be booked with a telephonist at a post office, with an advance for the first
three minutes. If the call lasts more than three minutes, the balance is
payable afterwards. If the call does not go through, the prepayment is
refunded. Charges for long-distance national calls vary according to the
time of day. The highest charges are for calls between 8am and 6pm on
weekdays. From 6pm to 10pm on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays,
charges are lower. The lowest charges are for calls made between 10pm and
8am. Local call charges also vary, depending on the time of day – they are
cheaper from 10pm to 6am. International call charges are fixed. When making
a call to certain countries, it is possible to reverse the charges using the
Direct Service. Information on country codes is available from Biuro Numerów  (Directory Inquiries).

On lifting the receiver, you should hear the dialling tone. When the number
has been dialled, there may be a vibrating sound as the connection is made.
Then you will hear long, repeated signals. If the number is engaged, the
sounds are short and frequent.

When making any call, dial 0 followed by the area code. Even local calls
follow this format, so, for example, within Warsaw, you should dial 022 and
then the number. Problems getting through may mean that the number has been
changed. The process of modernization that the Polish telecommunications
network is undergoing means that many numbers are being extended to seven
digits. In the event of difficulties, contact Directory Inquiries.

Poland has five mobile telephone networks, which operate on two wavelengths,
900 MHz and 1,800 MHz, and cover almost all of the country. Only in the more
remote areas, far from the big cities and the major population centres, do
users ever experience problems with connection.

Poczta Polska, the Polish postal service, provides a wide range of services.
Post offices have been thoroughly modernized in recent years. Post offices
are open from 8am to 8pm on weekdays. In the big cities, the main post
office (Poczta Główna) is now open day and night, seven days a week.

In many modernized post offices there is a ticketing system and customers are
served in sequence. On entering the post office, customers take a numbered
card from a machine and go to the appropriate desk when their number is
displayed. The card also indicates roughly how long the customer is likely
to have to wait before being served.

Stamps are available from post offices and can also be obtained in shops and
newsagents, although you often have to buy postcards too. While local
correspondence should be posted in green boxes, letters for another town or
a foreign country should be posted in a red box.

Letters to destinations within Poland usually arrive within 2 to 3 days of
posting, while international mail may take up to a week, and
intercontinental mail can take as long as three weeks.

For mail that is particularly urgent, Poczta Polska provides an express
service and a courier service. Courier agencies such as DHL  and UPS  also operate in Poland, although all
courier services are quite expensive.

Now a common feature of all major Polish cities, cyber cafés can be found in
bookshops, shopping centres, libraries and pubs, as well as specialist
cafés. Opening times vary from office hours to 24 hours a day, and prices
vary slightly depending upon the location. Some offer discounts for frequent
users often via membership cards.