Whiskey02

Member
Turkish SIM Card in UK Mobile Phone
Sorry if this has been asked many times before, but I have an unblocked UK mobile phone and I would like to buy a Turkish pay as you go SIM to use in this phone without having to fully register it etc with Turkcell. Does anyone know if this phone could be used for 2 weeks whilst on holiday before being blocked? I don't care if the phone eventually gets blocked as I just need a phone for a couple of weeks to make local calls & texts.
Thanks
 

evo80

Member
Turkish SIM Card in UK Mobile Phone
Re: Turkish SIM Card

Sorry if this has been asked many times before, but I have an unblocked UK mobile phone and I would like to buy a Turkish pay as you go SIM to use in this phone without having to fully register it etc with Turkcell. Does anyone know if this phone could be used for 2 weeks whilst on holiday before being blocked? I don't care if the phone eventually gets blocked as I just need a phone for a couple of weeks to make local calls & texts.
Thanks

I am almost 100% sure it won't get blocked in just 2 weeks holiday.
 

esb1841

Member
Turkish SIM Card in UK Mobile Phone
Re: Turkish SIM Card

law was changed last summer you can use Turkish sim in uk phone without registering the phone for a period of 60 days before it get blocked
 

MiddleEarth

MiddleEarth
Turkish SIM Card in UK Mobile Phone
Re: Turkish SIM Card

law was changed last summer you can use Turkish sim in uk phone without registering the phone for a period of 60 days before it get blocked

Yup, that is what the law says. However, beware what the law says.
Good luck, you may need it.
 

oldfogy

Just passing through
Turkish SIM Card in UK Mobile Phone
Re: Turkish SIM Card

Whilst still on the subject of SIM cards and as a update to costs etc.

1, How much do SIM cards cost nowadays.

2, Roughly how much do calls cost per minute to use a Turkish SIM to phone either a UK landline or UK mobile?
 

kibris

Member
Turkish SIM Card in UK Mobile Phone
Re: Turkish SIM Card

I thınk a new sım card ıs about 40lıra.When ı used to come to turkey to stay ın my apartment on holıdays ı just bought a cheap mobıle phone here ın turkey and turkcell sorted ıt out for me wıth a sım.Hardly ever used ıt anyway --frıends and famıly keep ın touch by email.
 

oldfogy

Just passing through
Turkish SIM Card in UK Mobile Phone
Re: Turkish SIM Card

Thanks, although that seems a lot just for a SIM, but then again it's Turkey.

When you say 'a cheap mobile' again what sort of proce are we talking for something very basic just to send or receive a call?
 

kibris

Member
Turkish SIM Card in UK Mobile Phone
ı bought my mobıle ın a mıgros sale ıt was around 60lıra but that was several years ago when the exchange rate was around 2-70tl to the pound.
 

esb1841

Member
Turkish SIM Card in UK Mobile Phone
Re: Turkish SIM Card

Whilst still on the subject of SIM cards and as a update to costs etc.

1, How much do SIM cards cost nowadays.

2, Roughly how much do calls cost per minute to use a Turkish SIM to phone either a UK landline or UK mobile?

From the UK calling a Turkish Mobile or Turkish land line the Lebara Best Tariff rate is 1p per minute landline or 5p per minute mobile
as you can pick up basic nokia 105,106,108 phones from Carphone warehouse for 1P cheapest option is send them a txt on your Turkish mobile and they phone you back on the Lebara sim card
 

oldfogy

Just passing through
Turkish SIM Card in UK Mobile Phone
Another question I asked some time ago but don't recall getting a definitive answer was.

1. Is it only the likes of foreigners with imported phones that have to be registered?

2. If you buy a phone from a shop in Turkey does it also have to be registered?
 

esb1841

Member
Turkish SIM Card in UK Mobile Phone
Another question I asked some time ago but don't recall getting a definitive answer was.

1. Is it only the likes of foreigners with imported phones that have to be registered?

2. If you buy a phone from a shop in Turkey does it also have to be registered?

All imported phones need to be registered rule applies to foreigners and Turkish and both need to pay the 135TL tax

Phones that are purchased in Turkey don't go through the same registration however the phone company may registered the phone to your name on their databases
 

oldfogy

Just passing through
Turkish SIM Card in UK Mobile Phone
Thanks, much appreciated.

So probably just for a short term it probably works out a lot cheaper if a cheap phone can be found.

Although TBH I'm not really a phone person and mainly just use mine as a SatNav when on holiday (Nokia with Nokia maps and no data required) but I've always wondered why there has been so much fuss with people wanting to register a phone.
 

evo80

Member
Turkish SIM Card in UK Mobile Phone
They prob want to register UK bought Mobiles ,because you cannot buy a really cheap Turkish payg phone.
 
Turkish SIM Card in UK Mobile Phone
I think the phone registering falls into two categories. The first from the Turkish Government point of view is that its a nice little money spinner. Call it a tax, an import duty or whatever it is mainly aimed at driving people to buy products in Turkey - and if they dont then make money from taxing the product.
The second category of course is the person wanting to register the phone. When I first registered a UK phone many years ago it cost 5TL and was well worth it as most phones bought in Turkey were three or four times the cost of a UK one.
Nowadays, with the exchange rate so favourable it is often as cheap to buy a decent smartphone here by the time you have added the Turkish registration cost and the Turkcell fee to the UK price - plus saving the hassle!
Even buying a basic phone for a fiver in Tescos means its still cheaper to pay 100TL for it here in Turkey than add the cost of registration to it.
Many people of course do still register UK phones here (including me a few months back) because they have been given an expensive phone as a gift - a relative upgrading theirs for a new model maybe - or they simply are attached to their UK phone because of the expensive cost of it or whatever other reasons.
 

MiddleEarth

MiddleEarth
Turkish SIM Card in UK Mobile Phone
If you do not insert a Turkish SIM card, you do not have to register it.

There are many used mobile phone shops where you can buy a basic phone for under 100 TL. Villabaris1 had a great answer. It only makes sense for someone permanently moving here with an already purchased expensive phone from abroad to register it here, OR if you have been given a gift. For a short term tourist/visitor, it makes no sense at all. There are many options for calling in Turkey besides mobile phones. When you check into a hotel or pansion, ask to use their phone, or buy a cheap phone card, there are still public phones around. If you are a visitor for just a couple of weeks, bring your foreign mobile phone and ONLY use it for emergencies. You can use a tablet, "smart" phone or Internet Cafe to "call home using VOIP if you absolutely have to be in touch that way. Emergency calls from ANY mobile, registered or not, do not cost and if it is a real emergency why would you care anyway?
 

oldfogy

Just passing through
Turkish SIM Card in UK Mobile Phone
On a slightly different look at this also, make sure if using a none turkish phone in 'any country' is to make sure you are aware of all call charges both incoming and outgoing, ie' it would cost me £0.85 per minute just to receive a call from a UK phone.
Whereas to 'receive' a text is free.
 

esb1841

Member
Turkish SIM Card in UK Mobile Phone
A strange one but Virgin payg Uk phone Receiving a Call in Turkey is 0.0.p per minute

however if you are in the states its £1.00 per minute

for anyone with a smartphone turning data roaming off is a must there are so many programs doing updates in the background

I read it you do buy a turkish sim the number will be blocked once you have exceeded your 60 days or when you leave the country which ever take place 1st and it is possible to get the number switch back on when you re-enter the country and you go through passport control
 

magpie

magpie
Turkish SIM Card in UK Mobile Phone
What if I just want to buy a sim for an iPhone which is unlocked ? I'd be using it for a few weeks in June and then 2 months or so from September? Can you do this and how much would the cost be? Also if I wanted to buy a mifi with a turkish sim would I need to register it and how much - roughly would it cost?
 

oldfogy

Just passing through
Turkish SIM Card in UK Mobile Phone
What if I just want to buy a sim for an iPhone which is unlocked ? I'd be using it for a few weeks in June and then 2 months or so from September? Can you do this and how much would the cost be? Also if I wanted to buy a mifi with a turkish sim would I need to register it and how much - roughly would it cost?
Part of your answer I think you will find in post #6 (SIM = 40TL) but you will find it will not last much longer than maybe 30 days before being blocked, and certainly wouldn't work again after September, so if a phone is essential to you it looks as if buying a cheap Turkish phone would be your 'easiest option'

Sorry no suggestion with regards to the MiFi
Suggest a search for MiFi will produce the results you require.
 

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