Turkey Report

[ocknock]

Trip to Turkey from 18 July to 2 August 2009.

All three GSM providers (Turkcell, Vodafone, Avea) have booths in the international arrivals hall.

I chose Vodafone since I happened across the booth first.
55 Turkish Lira (~37 USD, 27 EUR) for SIM card (20 units included) plus 100 units. Activation took 20 minutes.
Recharge cards for all GSM providers are available nearly everywhere.

TARIFF
I didn't take good notes on the tariff charges, so below is from memory.

Domestic calls to non-Vodafone numbers were around 2-3 units/minute.
International calls to USA were around 6 units/minute.
International SMS cost 2 units/minute.

COVERAGE
Vodafone worked fine in larger towns, however in Eastern Turkey, especially around the Kackar mountains north of Erzurum, there was no Vodafone coverage. Many locals had mobiles in this area and all used Turkcell.

IMEI REGISTRATION
Vodafone handled this as part of my SIM card purchase. I was in Turkey for just over 2 weeks and my phone worked the entire time, however I'm not sure if it was due to the registration being processed quickly or not. The sales person told me that sometimes registration can take up to 3 weeks.

[Richard10002]

Thread on Yachting & Boating World home | sailing news, boats for sale, sailing forums, marine companies , (boating forum), talks about dongles and data in Turkey - not sure if it's beem covered here previously.

vodafone dongle inTurkey - Yachting and Boating World Forums

First post includes the following:


"Well just got one and trying it out now.
Not at the boat, at home at the moment, just five minutes away from Marina so signal strength should be comparable.
(got full signal)

100 TL for the dongle (including 1Gig), 20 TL for the PAYG sim card, plus I added an extra 1 Gig at 30 TL.

Took 20 minutes to arrange at Vodafone shop in Istanbul airport on my way here (Yalikavak, Bodrum) They only needed to take a photocopy of my passport.

There is also a Turkcell version called VNN or similar here, looked into that last trip, but they wanted local bank reference and proof of this, that and the other etc so not very visitor/tourist friendly."

Hope this helps.

Richard

[DaveRo]

I'll probably be in Turkey for 8 to 10 weeks next year, and require GPRS in small volumes - 1Mb/day is enough.

Vodafone charge 750units/month, 33€, for unlimited GPRS * - this looks OK

Turkcell charge ~ 1€/Mb * - or there is the offer mentioned by Demonboy in the YBW thread Richard linked to: 4Gb for 290 credits (~25€)

I suspect that my main problem is IMEI registration.

Originally Posted by ocknock

IMEI REGISTRATION
Vodafone handled this as part of my SIM card purchase...

What documentation did they want to see? The regulations mention invoices to prove that you bought it. I have several phones but they were all given to me or off ebay - I have no invoices or proof of ownership.

I suppose I could use each one until it stopped working - but I'd rather not get them on the blacklist.

I suppose also that Vodafone might be more willing to do IMEI registration for foreign phones than Turkcell. Anybody have any experience of that with Turkcell? And I'd be arriving by boat not air, so it'd probably be Marmaris or Bodrum not Istanbul airport.

Any ideas on the cheapest way to acquire a whitelisted Turkish phone with GPRS and Bluetooth? AFAICS the whitelisting applies to use in Turkey, not use with a particular operator - can anyone confirm that?

Dave

(* Prices from this site - can't find them in English on the operators' websites.)

[Ties Brants]

When I was in Turkey in May they didn't ask for an Invoice when I registered my phone with Turkcell. So actually don't think that will be a problem.

[DaveRo]

A couple of websites I found that deal with the theory of IMEI registration:

This one is a Q&A in English:

Avea: Unregistered devices

This government site has an English bit about "Temporarily Staying In The Country" which implies that a registered phone can only be used with a single number issued by a Turkish operator. (This seems to be different from an 'Individual Import')

imei.tk.gov.tr

It also allows you to check whether an IMEI is registered (IMEI Sorgulama). The link above that seems to check whether an IMEI matches a MSISDN.

All that is theory of course; the practice may be quite different

[DaveRo]

I emailed Turkcell and got this prompt reply:

When you come to Turkey, with your passport you can buy prepaid turkcell line from Turkcell extra shops.

You can also connect to the internet with this simcard by gprs.

If you connect to the internet , it costs 2 credit for every 35 kb
And also we have internet packages, they are cheaper;

Weekly internet package - 50 mb - 20 credit
Montly internet package - 100 mb - 65 credit
Montly internet package - 1 gb - 210 credit
Montly internet package - 4 gb - 290 credit
Montly internet package - 6 gb - 440 credit
Montly internet package - 8 gb - 510 credit

After you buy prepaid line you should choose one of them. You can take help about activation from Turkcell extra shop or Turkcell customer care. Our telephone number is; 4440535

About your mobile phone's imei registration; when you buy prepaid line in Turkcell extra shop , they can help you about registration. They need your passport and your Turkcell line's agreement.

I also found this webpage about Vodafone:
Vodafone Mü?teri Hizmetleri - Mobil ?nternet Kendini A?an Tarife

Click on Kendini Aşan Tarife opsiyonunu almam durumunda nasıl ücretlendirilirim? for the mobile internet tariff.

It seems to be a progressive charge: for prepaid:
- 5TL for the first 5MB
- 5TL for the next 15MB
- 5TL for the next 30MB ... etc

(At least, that's how I interpret it, but I may have missed something.)

[SIMCollector]

I came back from Turkey a couple of months ago and got 4 Pre-paid turk cell sims. Two were registered to me and the other two appear to be registered to people I have never heard of before. Despite the laws of Turkey there appears to be ways to have many sims if you want it.

When you have on-line access to your turk cell sim account it will show you your registered name and the life span of the sim.

The problem I have now is getting small top-ups for the sims to keep them alive. I dont have all the details at hand right now, but when you are in turkey it is possible to buy very small top-ups in the Turkcell extra shops (and others). Turkcell extra shops are the best to go in as they are less likely to rip you off - although it can happen if your not careful. The Turkish Kontor system for credits really got me to begin with !

If you have a turkish bank account t is possible to top-up your pre-paid sim from there. I have also found the following website which presently allows top-ups using a credit card to Vodaphone sims :

www dot mobytop dot com/home.php

The above website also states you can top up some other interesting country's sims, including, laos, indonesia and vietnam - but it does not cover all operators in all countries mentioned.

While I was in Turkey I was also oferred the opportunity to get a post-paid turkcell account. To have one of these you need a bank account there and a turkish address. Its not difficult to get a bank account there, but if you dont want to do that, there maybe some shop owners (this time not Turk Cell extra shops, smaller independents) who will make arrange ments for you to get a post paid sim. How ongoing payment for this would work I dont know, but I was certainly offered this. It may well have turned out to be a rip-off, I dont know. Still if you go to one of the state owned banks, opening an account is straight forward, see :

www dot tbb dot org dot tr/eng/Banka_ve_Sektor_Bilgileri/Banka_Listesi.aspx

www dot turkeytravelplanner dot com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=3984

and heres some info I have on mobiles :

www dot bodrumpropertyforsale dot co dot uk/FAQ_Turkey_Property.htm
MOBILE PHONES NEED TO BE REGISTERED FOR USE WITH SIM CARDS BOUGHT IN TURKEY
Turkish and foreign visitors are entitled to bring one mobile phone into Turkey within one calendar year for use during their stay in Turkey. A personal mobile phone brought in to Turkey in this manner is exempt from tax and duty.
It is necessary to register the mobile phones in order to use them with SIM card bought from a Turkish network operator. (In order to use such a mobile phone with a SIM card bought in Turkey from a Turkish network operator, the mobile phone number assigned to the SIM card needs to be correlated with the IMEI number of the mobile phone. The handset can only be registered with one line. Phones not registered in this way will be blocked and unable to receive or make calls. There is no charge levied for this registration.)
No customs documents are required for the registration of mobile phones.
Mobile phones to be brought into Turkey are to be registered with the Telecommunication Institution or with the mobile phone shops of Turkish Network Operators (Avea, Turkcell or Telsim).
Documents required for the registration of mobile phones are:
* TR Citizenship Number or Passport number
* Passport (Identity details indicated on the passport)
* Copies of all Turkish entry/exit stamps in the passport
No more than one mobile phone per person can be registered in one calendar year.


So to summarise, my own experience is far from what the rules state.

[SIMCollector]

I'm not sure if this is the best place to ask, but what would be the best way/place to ask if anyone can help/advise where/how to get top-ups for TurkCell when outside of Turkey ?

[prion]

Originally Posted by SIMCollector

I'm not sure if this is the best place to ask, but what would be the best way/place to ask if anyone can help/advise where/how to get top-ups for TurkCell when outside of Turkey ?

Have a look at ebay:
Turkcell gsm 100 credits kontor new - eBay (item 170391355848 end time Nov-05-09 06:08:22 PST)

[SIMCollector]

Originally Posted by prion

Have a look at ebay:
Turkcell gsm 100 credits kontor new - eBay (item 170391355848 end time Nov-05-09 06:08:22 PST)

Thanks for the feedback - 100 kontor is a bit hight for me as I'm just looking to keep the sim alive - but you pointed me in the right direction. Found this ebay store which has top-ups for Turkcell, Vodafone and Avea :

http://stores . ebay . com/Taxiem

Its crazy really as online Turkcell has the facility to accept top-ups with a credit card but will only accept Credit Cards issued in Turkey (maybe not such a bad ide ato avoid fraud and chargebacks). But they could accept alternative forms of payment. Maybe even one of the proper Turckell stores could do a cardholder not present transaction. Unfortunately, there are no top-up cards for smaller amounts - I think less than 50 Kontor, and I think these are hard to find. I had to get a 100 Kontor card, which was around 10GBP (16USD/11EUR) whilst I was there.

I guess that if anything goes wrong with the transaction, if paying with paypal, as a buyer your in a stronger position, in the event that they keep the money and I get no top-up ?

Seems like a good opportunity in any country that makes it hard for non residents outside of the country to get top-ups to offer a top-up service.