IDD service is available to the main cities. Country code: 254 (followed by 20 for Nairobi, 41 for Mombasa and 51 for Nakuru). International calls can sometimes be made direct or operator-assisted by dialling 0196. Public telephones work with coins or with phone cards (which may be purchased from post offices or from international call services in major towns); coin-operated phone booths are painted red, card-operated booths are painted blue. Major hotels also offer an international phone service, but they usually charge up to 100 per cent more. In larger towns, private telecommunication centres offer international services. For local calls, it is useful to have plenty of small change available.

Roaming agreements exist with international mobile phone companies. The main network providers are Celtel (website: www.celtel.com), which has extensive coverage in the south west and around the coast and Mombasa, and Safaricom (website: www.safaricom.co.ke), with coverage in from Mombasa to Nairobia and in the south east.

There are Internet cafes in major cities and hotels.

Kenya enjoys a more diverse media scene than many other African countries, although some media have been harrassed for upsetting the government. Most Kenyans rely on the broadcast media, particularly radio, for news. The print media is dominated by two publishing houses, the Nation Media Group and Standard, which also have broadcasting interests.
Press: The main dailies (all published in English) include Daily Nation, The East African Standard, Kenya Times and The People Daily. Taifo Leo is the only Swahili-language daily, published by the Nation Media Group. Nairobi is the main publishing centre.
TV: State-owned Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) has channels in English and Swahili. Kenya Television Network was the first TV station to break the state broadcasting monopoly; it is available in Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru, Eldoret, Kisumu. Nation TV is a Nairobi-based station operated by the Nation Media Group. Other private channels include: Nairobi-based station Citizen TV and Stella TV (STV).
Radio: Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) is state-owned, with language-based networks in English, Swahili and 15 other indigenous languages. Metro FM is a national music-based station operated by KBC. Coro FM is a KBC-operated Kikuyu-language station in Nairobi. Capital FM and Kiss FM are music stations. Radio Citizen is a private station with wide coverage which also operates Kikuyu-language Inooro FM and Luo-language. Full-time FM relays of the BBC World Service are on the air in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu, and some BBC programmes are also rebroadcast by private Kameme FM. The Voice of America has an FM relay in Nairobi and Radio France Internationale is relayed on FM in Mombasa.

Post offices are identified by Telkom Kenya (Kenya Posts & Telecommunications Corporation). Post boxes are red. Stamps can usually be bought at post offices, stationers, souvenir shops and hotels. Airmail to Western Europe takes up to four days, and the service is generally reliable. Post office hours: Mon-Fri 0800-1700, Sat 0900-1200 (main post offices).