mobiles in Turkey

[NornaBiron]

Actually, since the roaming charges were brought under control, using a UK SIM in Turkey is quite reasonable (no more expensive than the UK). Here are the Vodafone charges:-


Make a call 24p a min (minimum call charge of 30 seconds; after that, you'll be charged per second)
Receive a call 7p a min (you'll be charged per second)
Send a text 8p a text
Send a picture message 36p a text
Data You’ll pay £2 a day (UK time) for 25MB of data abroad. The first 4.4MB is 45p a MB and the next 20.6MB is free. Over 25MB is 45p a MB.

Data is the killer, but that will be sorted by Neelie Kroes in June 2015. Data, IMHO, is a ridiculously high price in the UK.
A good mobile phone is in my experience far better for data than a Huawei dongle (sic).

Thanks Charles, we've always found vodafone pretty reasonable abroad, especially with passport, which is not available in Turkey, unfortunately.

 

[Dave100456]

Hi Charles
Your charges are quite reasonable. TMobile are £1.33 per min for calls and 20p per text. Note also that if you have voicemail, when outside EU, you will pay while the caller leaves a message on your voice mail AND you will then pay the £1.33/min to access the voicemail!!!
These charges are reduced from the £1.50/min calls and 50p text charges I used to pay until recently.
Dave

 

[Dave100456]

So you imported an unlocked mifi and got a local (Turkcell?) SIM for it. Is that right?

Do you know how they registered the SIM against the IMEI? Did they ask you for the IMEI and if so where did you get it from - a label or off the box?
I'm curious about this - as I said I've never read of anyone doing it before.

270days applies to a Turkcell Hazir Kart PAYG SIM, btw. If this was some other SIM there might be different rules. (Hazir Kart does data but it's sold as a voice/SMS SIM. If you mention 'data' the shop will sell you something more expensive - but probably with higher data limits.)

It seems to me that if you've accidentally fallen foul of the operator's rules for topping up you don't have a case against the tax people. But good luck!

Hi "Davero"
To answer your questions,
The IMEI numbers were all scanned in at the tax office.
Tax office have approved and processed the refund just waiting for it to go into my bank; we'll see if its there next week when I go out. Whilst its only a £30 refund, the principal of trying to conform to a country's rules by paying dues and then having the device blocked is not fair and hence my quest to obtain the refund. I guess it'll work out at about £1 per hour for all the time spent on visiting various govt offices. Indeed the tax officer I deal with since the process began has since got married and is now expecting child.... hopefully refund process will be concluded before said child is born!
Dave

 

[lille_bee]

I went into a big Turkcell shop in Fethiye today: they're selling their Mifi (Multivinn) for 150TL, and a Turkish SIM for 37TL;
I bought one 2 years ago, and buy 10GB to use over 90 days for 79 TL. Today's exchange rate in the local bureaux de change was 3.48 TL for £1, and 2.95 TL for €1.

 

[charles_reed]

Hi Charles
Your charges are quite reasonable. TMobile are £1.33 per min for calls and 20p per text. Note also that if you have voicemail, when outside EU, you will pay while the caller leaves a message on your voice mail AND you will then pay the £1.33/min to access the voicemail!!!
These charges are reduced from the £1.50/min calls and 50p text charges I used to pay until recently.
Dave

I did quote the Vodafone site prices - strictly speaking Turkey aren't part of the EC, so T-Mobile aren't breaking any law - however most providers seem to treat it as such.
T-Mobile being ex Deutsch Telecom have a long history of overcharging and (even more incompetent) being found out and fined. The new mobile voice, roaming charges only came in last July and I have yet to work out whether it's worth continuing with my Greek mobile SIM. The only proviso is that one on my more technologically challenged friends in the UK keeps on sending long SMS to my Greek mobile #. She is under the impression that you can only access e-mail from home and is far too vain (or lazy) to wear her spectacles and use my UK mobile #.