A brief overview of the main channels of communication in Bulgaria:

Telephone

Bulgaria Telecom is the national telephone service provider, more information on the range of services they offer is available here.

In order to have a telephone line installed, a foreign resident needs to show valid ID and a residency permit. It normally takes a month from the date you apply for the work to be completed. Billing is monthly, payable through a Bulgarian bank account, at the post office, online or with a debit card.

Public telephone service - you can make national and international calls from public payphones, using phone cards or tokens sold at post offices. Two companies operate the payphones - Bulfon's are orange and Betkom's are blue - so it is worth having a card for each, as they are not interchangeable! Calls can also be made from almost every post office outlet.

Postal service

The Bulgarian postal service (http://www.bgpost.bg/index.htm#Eng/index.htm) has been somewhat slow to modernise, but is still quite efficient. Post offices offer all the services one would expect, including letter and parcel postage, utility bill payments, telegram and telephone services, and banking services for the Bulgarian Postal Bank.

Internet

Bulgarian websites usually end with the country code '.bg' Internet cafes are increasing in number, especially in the larger cities - rates are generally reasonable, with fast connection and a good service. Most cost less than 1 dollar (US$) an hour. Services such as Hotmail, which can be accessed from anywhere, are popular for sending and picking up email. Residential customers looking for Internet access have a choice of providers, most offering dial-up access, though ADSL and broadband options will no doubt become more widespread. A list of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) can be found here

Television

In rented property, many apartments have cable television installed, but satellite TV can be arranged as an extra service. Bulgaria's national television station is National TV.