Calis Beach and Fethiye Turkey Discussion Forum
Information and Services in Turkey Section => Telephones, Broadband and Mobiles => Topic started by: BernieTeyze on April 22, 2011, 11:21:26 AM
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If I have a 'bundle' from Orange, I will be charged 28p txt, 49p to receive a call, and 91p per minute to make a call.
Would it be cheaper to buy a Turkish Sim and put it in an old mobile? If so which one and how much are they?
I am hopeless when it comes to phones, can anyone help please?
Many Thanks
Bernie
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Mobiles need to be registered in Turkey or they will be blocked. You might just get 2 weeks out of a Turkish sim in an old mobile but you won't get much longer and won't be able to use it again in Tirkey unless you register it.
How about switching the roaming off so that you cannot get any nasty bills and buying yourself one of the international calling cards that many places sell now. Much chepaer I think.
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Sorry for being a bit thick, but if I bought an international card could I use it on my mobile for the same cost as a phone box without incurring extra charges?? and what is roaming?
Thanks so much
B
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Have a look at go sim.com, you can get an international sim from there but you need an unlocked phone.
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Thanks for the advice, I will have a look.
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I had a look at sim.com and you can buy a sim that has an unlimited life,you keep the same number and top it up with call time each time you go away. The call rates and txts seemed really reasonable. I did get the information about calls from Turkey to England, do you think they would still lock the sim as it will be registered with sim.com?
The phonecard is starting to look like the easiest option, and just leave the hotel number in case of emergencies.
Thanks for all your help.
Bernie
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Hi Bernie, 'Roaming' is when your phone is enabled to receive or send information on the internet. You can switch this on or off.
My mate just returned fron Corfu after a weeks holiday and left 'roaming' enabled. £177 for one week. Ouch!
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Bernie,
I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong but I think it's the phone they actually lock not the sim card.
We go over every year so we bought a phone which was registered at the time of purchase. We now have our property managment looking after it for us so that it remains 'active' for when we arrive. Total cost was about 100ytl with quite a bit of credit on it.
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quote:
Originally posted by slikmrs
I had a look at sim.com and you can buy a sim that has an unlimited life,you keep the same number and top it up with call time each time you go away. The call rates and txts seemed really reasonable. I did get the information about calls from Turkey to England, do you think they would still lock the sim as it will be registered with sim.com?
You should have no problem with a sim.com card and a UK phone in Turkey.
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The other option, if you have a smartphone is to make sure you download Skype before you go away and access that when you can get free wireless (which is now widely available in Calis bars and restuarants).
You can then talk to anyone who also has Skype - for free or you can add money to your Skype account and get much cheaper call rates. For example we can phone our kids in Thailand for about 6.5p per minute if we ring their mobiles.
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quote:
Originally posted by stoop
Bernie,
I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong but I think it's the phone they actually lock not the sim card.
We go over every year so we bought a phone which was registered at the time of purchase. We now have our property managment looking after it for us so that it remains 'active' for when we arrive. Total cost was about 100ytl with quite a bit of credit on it.
Yes they block the phone but omly if you try to use a Turkish sim in it... ;)
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quote:
Originally posted by philrose
quote:
Originally posted by stoop
Bernie,
I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong but I think it's the phone they actually lock not the sim card.
We go over every year so we bought a phone which was registered at the time of purchase. We now have our property managment looking after it for us so that it remains 'active' for when we arrive. Total cost was about 100ytl with quite a bit of credit on it.
Yes they block the phone but omly if you try to use a Turkish sim in it... ;)
In that case the go-sim card would be OK - or any other type of sim bought in the UK. I think there are numerous ones that offer cheap calls to international destinsations.
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Thanks for that!
B
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we use payasyougo Vectone moblie sim and can phone many international destinations including turkey landline phones for £0.01p per min from the uk, we buy before we go a turkey bundle set which is 700 mins of calls or text for twenty pounds this gives us 400 mins to turkey land phones or 100 mins to turkey mobiles plus 300 mins back to the uk plus free vectone to vectone text or voice calls plus free voice messages, if you go outside this limit it will cost £0.07p per text from turkey to anywhere in the world we find it a good service and easy to use just pop in the new sim, top up on line or buy at any store like sanisburys and off you go, make sure your phone is unblocked otherwise you cannot use the service.
chris
ps you also get 170mb of internet per topup please note the topup can be as little as £5
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Vectone, havent heard of that one, will have a look.
thanks for everyones help
Bernie
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Sorry Tony and Stoop, for some reason I didn't see your previous posts.
Thanks for the help
Bernie
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I have an orange Pay as you go phone. Any idea how much it will cost me to phone from Turkey to the UK and to use in Turkey to, perhaps ring the management company of the villa we are hiring?
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approx £1.70p a minute to call and approx £1.40p to recieve
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Wow!! Is that to UK and in Turkey? How do I get a cheaper deal? I'm a bit technically challenged!! lol. If I but a PAYG in Turkey will my nuber still be valid next time we visit? Sorry to be so thick.
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Supergran, under no circumstance use your uk phone in turkey, it will cost you a fortune, try your operator for overseas bundles, if it is orange, go into the orange shop, if tmobile etc.
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im out in turkey 3/4 times a year, i want to buy a phone in england
i understand that i have to go to fethyie with my passport to register the phone then they will give me a number and simcard
the only thing i dont know is the phone that i buy does it need to be an unlocked phone for any network or is there a certain type of phone i need to get...
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quote:
Originally posted by steven moore
im out in turkey 3/4 times a year, i want to buy a phone in england
i understand that i have to go to fethyie with my passport to register the phone then they will give me a number and simcard
the only thing i dont know is the phone that i buy does it need to be an unlocked phone for any network or is there a certain type of phone i need to get...
Any unlocked phone
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Any type of phone as i was told not Nokia !
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Not sure why you were told that - Nokia is fine, as are them all :)
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We have a problem in that we are 12 months into a 24 month Iphone contract with Vodafone, I am going to ask them if I can 'buy' my way out of the contract as we would like to take the phone with us next year. To get the phone unlocked, is that something you can do yourself or is it a specialist procedure?
I can't find it on the search facility. Can anyone point me in the direction of where and how to register the mobile over in Turkey.
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Several answers to the above problem.
1: Just carry on paying your monthly direct debit but don't use the sim card (if you do this ensure you give them a months notice to end the contract when it's due).
2: You can pay the rest of your contract up front by closing your account with Vodafone UK & paying the balance by debit/credit card. If you do this make sure your iphone is completely synced with itunes as Vodafone may "zap" it thereby losing your contacts etc.
onto how to use the phone in Turkey:
3: Register the handset with Vodafone TR, the phone will not need to be "unlocked" as such, just the settings for the TR side of things to be changed & that's an automatic change on the iphone, you will be sent several text messages & "invited" to save the settings as default, these are for sms, mms, internet etc.
4: Getting the iphone unlocked in the UK is not quite so simple if it is currently locked to Vodafone, there are ways round it but you need to take it to a specialist phone shop, whatever you do don't waste your time paying for an unlocking "code" from EBay, most are simply a scam.
5: Getting the iphone unlocked in Turkey may be easier however I have no knowledge of this.
HTH
Mark.
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quote:
Originally posted by gunna
we use payasyougo Vectone moblie sim and can phone many international destinations including turkey landline phones for £0.01p per min from the uk, we buy before we go a turkey bundle set which is 700 mins of calls or text for twenty pounds this gives us 400 mins to turkey land phones or 100 mins to turkey mobiles plus 300 mins back to the uk plus free vectone to vectone text or voice calls plus free voice messages, if you go outside this limit it will cost £0.07p per text from turkey to anywhere in the world we find it a good service and easy to use just pop in the new sim, top up on line or buy at any store like sanisburys and off you go, make sure your phone is unblocked otherwise you cannot use the service.
chris
ps you also get 170mb of internet per topup please note the topup can be as little as £5
I though that sounded really interesting Chris, so called them up. I may have spoken to a customer advisor who gave me incorrect info as she said there are no bundles available for making and receiving calls whilst in Turkey. She said it would cost me £1.80 per min to receive a call from uk (landline or mobile) and £2.00 to call out. For calls to Turkish phones she quoted £1.80 incoming and £3.00 outgoing per minute.Texts 50p to send.
My orange phone costs me less than that.
I am keen to buy a sim to call Turkish numbers cheaply in Turkey but now I'm confused.
Have you used them recently Chris?
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Lynnj, I'm sad to report that Chris passed away recently, but I'm sure he would be proud to know that the posts he left on here continue to help people.
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"I am keen to buy a sim to call Turkish numbers cheaply in Turkey but now I'm confused"
Simple answer, go to Turkcell or Vodafone (personal choice) when you're in Fethiye, get a new sim, they will register your phone to their network (Turkcell may need to unlock it but afaik Vodafone wont as you're already with them), wait appx 3 days (again only knowledge of Turkcell not Vodafone), job done! The choice of how much you pay is also up to you, depends on how many minutes & texts you need.
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I never met Chris but it is always sad to hear of someone passing away.
Thanks Supacabby - I will buy one this time. We did buy a SIM about 5 years ago and had it topped up regularly by our agent when not in Turkey but it still got locked.From everyone's comments it sounds like it is worth another try.
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Sorry, I'm rubbish at all of this, too. I want to be able to call the UK from Turkey - and make calls in Turkey, too. I need a new mobile phone in the UK. I'm confused from all of this what I should do. Those of you who are knowledgeable - should I just buy a cheap Turkish mobile and sim and leave it there? (and buy another for the UK). Should I just get a different Sim for each country - how do you get an 'unlocked' phone? Is it cheaper to use a Turkish sim to phone the UK or an English sim to phone Turkey?!
its all just too confusing...!!!
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I need a new mobile phone in the UK.
Buy 1 in the UK on a tariff you are happy with (payg or contract-your choice) & leave it there.
Should I just buy a cheap Turkish mobile and sim and leave it there?
Mobile phones are expensive in Turkey so don't expect cheap but second hand are available widely now.
Should I just get a different Sim for each country
You can do this but you need an unlocked phone, see post below.
How do you get an 'unlocked' phone?
All Turkish phones are not "simlocked" so can be used on any Turkish network & most will work on a UK network if you want them to.You can also buy unlocked phones in the UK, Carphone Warehouse would be a good place to ask for some help.
Is it cheaper to use a Turkish sim to phone the UK or an English sim to phone Turkey?
They are both expensive & I wouldn't recommend either way.
Depending on how long you spend in Turkey I would (it's my personal choice) have 2 phones.
To phone the UK from Turkey buy a phone card, ring from the phone booths & only ring landlines.
Turkish mobile to UK mobile is expensive, even with an "international dialling package" as offered by all the Turkish operators.
Likewise if you use a UK mobile in Turkey to send or receive calls to/from the UK it's appx £1.50 per minute, networks vary but that's a good average.
Yes it's confusing & I have suggested having 2 phones for this very reason. If you are not up to speed with the phone technology then it would be much easier for you to know where you stand with each phone in each country & you would not need to swap sim cards over & get involved with other settings changes you may well need.
Last but not least: Text messages to/from a UK mobile from a Turkish mobile are appx 30p each. If you use a UK mobile whilst in Turkey to text back to a UK mobile in the UK they are about the same price or sometimes more, again it depends on your UK network.
Hope that helps, a bit!
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Another thing. If you are going to use an unlocked UK mobile in Turkey with a Turkish sim then the phone will have to be registered to that sim card. Otherwise it will be blocked after a week or so. The major phone shops will so this for a small fee but it has to be done in the first 2 weeks of your visa being issued.
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Thanks for the prompt advice!
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How long can I leave my Turkish sim card unused before I lose number also same question for Turkcell dongle.
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Avea is 6 months, can't help with Turkcell.