Turkey Report

[DaveRo]

Turkcell Hazir Kart:

To get a money balance: *123#

The EKO internet package does renew automatically.

Expiry: if you do *166*5# you get two dates - one 180 days from the date of the last credit, and one 270 days after. I believe that the SIM expires if not credited before that later date.

I don't know whether it is possible to apply credit from outside Turkey, e.g. by using *122*nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn# (voucher number).

[timmfive]

Hi all,

This seems to be the main Turkey thread, so I will post here.

My wife and I have two unlocked Android phones.

Last year I went to Turkcell, bought a SIM and registered, but it took forever to register and work.
I needed the phone urgently, so I went to an Avea shop and they sold me a SIM that worked.
Eventually we were able to use the Turkcell in her phones. Happy days.

We were out of the country for 6 months, and didn't top up the SIMs so they were understandable both expired when we returned a few weeks ago.

However, at the Istanbul airport, I was told by Avea and Turkcell desks that my phone showed up as registered last year, therefore I wouldn't be able to use it this year!?!?!

Luckily? my wife's phone wasn't registered, so we were able to register it with Turkcell and get a SIM for it. (SIM doesn't work in my phone... as though my phone is banned/blocked).

So has something changed in the Turkish phone registration laws?
Why was I being told I would "never be able to use my phone in Turkey again as I registered it last year"...

It seems like DaveRo managed. I might go into the a different shop and see what they say.

A bit confused / concerned. Not having a phone is a bummer.

[Effendi]

That's quite strange. AFAIK you had to register your phone in order for them not to block it after some weeks, not the opposite. Probably something went wrong with your last year's registration.

[DaveRo]

Maybe once you have registered an IMEI against a SIM you cannot register it agaInst a different SIM..

I'm in Turkey now. I have updated the page on my sailing blog:
Mobile internet access in Turkey

I have the opposite problem: can I re-register a SIM against a new phone? I keep the SIMs alive with topups from the UK but I'd like to use them in a faster phone.

[timmfive]

Cheers for the reply DaveRo

You might be right... maybe the SIM and foreign IMEI are linked, and once the SIM dies after not being topped up after 6 months, then it is difficult to get the foreign IMEI back on the grid again...

I haven't had time (or inclination!) to chase it up further, but thought I would raise the issue here on the forum in case anyone else has the issue or finds a solution.

Let us know how you get on with moving your SIM to your new phone... or maybe it might be easier just getting a new SIM registered to your new phone...

[BillionBoy]

Hi,
T-Mobile offers very reasonable prices which are something like 30$ per 100MB.
Other than that I do not know any easy ways to purchase SIM cards, since the regulations are pretty strict.
There are however some start-ups who offer mobile wifi/3G devices (so called mifi) which creates a wifi so you can connect with your mobile without replacing your SIM Card.

You can skype, use whatsapp or viber instead of text messaging or actual telephone calls.

When we were in Antalya two months ago we hired a device from www.alldaywifi.com. They are Istanbul-based but they delivered it to our hotel (Delivery fee costs extra 5€).

We were pretty much happy with the experience. I am sure there are also other companies you can find on internet.
Hope this helps!

[Clouddy]

I was in Istanbul just a couple of days ago and I rented this mobile wifi from a campany called

Alldaywifi.com

They brought the mobile wifi to my hotel in Old City and I left it in hotel's reception in Cappadocia.

The speed and the coverage were good, prices are cheap enough and they reply about small issues immediately.

I also bought Istanbul Card and 3 sets of Fast Museum Cards. I highly recommend those because Istanbul Card provides discounted rates on transportation and the museum passes saved me from long queues of the museums.

I noticed that they started to offer airport delivery and airport transfer but at the time I booked, they didn't offer these services.

They met my basic tourist needs perfectly I think they deserve to take a look

[wolfbln]

I had a dispute with alldaywifi when they wanted to add their product to the prepaid SIM wiki. I had to edit it several times to get down to the facts and get rid of all advertisement bla-bla.

Now, checking again their website, it's still very deceiving:

- for instance they now add the Istanbul Card for discounted public transport.
This is highlighted in this blog: https://alldaywifi.com/blog. What they "forgot" to add, that the card is sold for TL 6 (€1.64) only everywhere in town. Btw. if you want to keep your Istanbul Card, you will be charged $3. Same policy with the museums pass.

- they say about the regulations in Turkey, which are really a hassle for long-term visitors: To use a mobile phone with a Turkish SIM card, you have to register your phone (IMEI number) in tax offices for approx. 40 EUR. Unregistered phones may be blocked in 1 week to 4 weeks.
What they "forgot" to say is, that the Turkish governement has extended the grace period from 30 to 60 days in 2014. So up to 2 months, you are safe on an local SIM card.

- you should never make a contract with a supplier who doesn't publish their T&Cs on the internet. In most countries this illegal, in Turkey obviously not. So read this: Enjoy unlimited data - We do not count your usage in MBs or GBs, since we really do not care. If you are using Alldaywifi, you also should not consider your internet usage every time. Unlimited means unlimited.
What they "forgot" to say is their Fair Use Policy of 15 GB/week and 60 GB/month. This is much, but not unlimited and only written in the T&Cs which have now disappered totally. EDIT: I just tried a fake booking. The T&C are linked just before payment: https://alldaywifi.com/index.php?opt...=article&id=24 Of course, FUP is still in there.

- I like this message especially: As Alldaywifi, we always guarantee that using our services will be cheaper in any condition comparing to buying a SIM card.
Ok. They "guarantee"! How? Just make a short calculation: You stay in Istanbul for 1 week and use 1 GB data. Alldaywifi charges you $40 (TL 111) if you pick it up and bring it back to their office.
The leading mobile provider in Turkey is Turkcell. They charge for a Hazir prepaid card TL 35 containing TL 20 credit. A 1 GB weekly package is sold for TL 9. Vodafone and Avea are even cheaper. So will alldaywifi give me back TL 111-35 = 76. Well, I have my doubts......

Reading this previous contribution, I can't help feeling that it is from the same source: https://alldaywifi.com/about-us.
Btw. congratulations to alldaywifi for being the no.1 outdoor activity in Istanbul on tripadvisor: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio...-Istanbul.html
OMG

[rfranzq]

Originally Posted by wolfbln

Now, checking again their website, it's still very deceiving: ...........................

What they "forgot" to say is their Fair Use Policy of 15 GB/week and 60 GB/month. This is much, but not unlimited and only written in the T&Cs which have now disappered totally

Btw. congratulations to alldaywifi for being the no.1 outdoor activity in Istanbul on tripadvisor

Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
I think even with your warning this would be an attractive option.
With your warning you would be forewarned and make a better choice of it.
The 'fair use' info seems to be more the Telco's conditions than alldaywifi's practice.

As to being the no.1 outdoor activity in Istanbul ??
Well I fear there are many who spend way too much time looking at small screens. Istanbul seems to be a place with a lot to see.
Pity so many will only look at small screens.
Kind of sad, actually.
I think people tend to want the least hassle possible and let others do the dirty work. I think this meets that desire.

[wolfbln]

Well, we had a discussion about WiFi hotspot router rental agencies on the prepaid data WIKI, whether to include or exclude them from the listing.

Some users claimed that they are doing a business/service which is totally different than selling a local SIM card to go online. Others said that they can offer a viable alternative.

As being the Admin there, I don't want to take sides as long as this is not necessary. But we ended up with more rentals than good SIM offers by providers in France or Japan. So we adopted a policy to add them in countries where it's "difficult" for any given reason to buy a local SIM card.

We need to be fair to the agencies: Their product/service is priced much higher than a local SIM card, but normally lower than internatl. roaming rates on your own device.
They claim to be the "all inclusive" "everything is cared for" solution which is worth the premium. This is for everyone up to decide. But I think the most convenient solution needs to be, that finally international roaming rates must come down. Buying a local SIM card is a surrogate like renting a MIFI device to save some money.

What strikes me most about the rental agencies, that all of them put all liability for the device (and sometimes even for the transport) on the renter. This fact mostly hidden in their T&Cs, was always erased by the rental companies as soon as I added it to their offers on the Wiki. I mean when you rent a car, you look at insurance and want a deductible as low as possible. At WIFI rental agencies it's if you break or loose the device, you'll pay for it. No insurance offered and they have your credit card data and signature on the rental contract. To state this clearly, obviously contradicts their image of an "all inclusive" service.

But this applies to all rental agencies and not to alldaywifi in particular. They have made a great marketing effort (as you see on tripadvisor) based on questionable claims. A rental router agency as being the no.1 outdoor activity in Istanbul is just ridiculous.
They are still on our Turkey article amongst other agencies. Ironically, it was the Turkish Government who took away a major reason for them to exist. They extented the grace period of how long a local SIM card can be run on a "foreign device" without being blocked from a few days to 2 months in 2014. So the average tourist to Turkey can be perfectly all right with a local SIM card from Turkcell, Vodafone or Avea using them up to 60 days.