Turkey: Purchasing a sim card
Oct 8th, 2006, 10:46 AM
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Turkey: Purchasing a sim card
Has anyone purchased a sim card in Turkey recently?
We have a tri-band phone, and we would like to know what the choices are for Turkey. We will be in Istabul, Kayseri, Cappadocia, Antalya, Canakkale and then back to Istabul.
We are setup with a T-Mobile quad-band that is international, but those incoming voice messages can be very expensive if the phone is left turned on all the time. So we would like to purchase a Turkish sim for the other phone so we can leave one phone on all the time.
Any information about the best company for coverage, where to purchase a sim, and the cost would be appreciated.
Thanks--Susan
We have a tri-band phone, and we would like to know what the choices are for Turkey. We will be in Istabul, Kayseri, Cappadocia, Antalya, Canakkale and then back to Istabul.
We are setup with a T-Mobile quad-band that is international, but those incoming voice messages can be very expensive if the phone is left turned on all the time. So we would like to purchase a Turkish sim for the other phone so we can leave one phone on all the time.
Any information about the best company for coverage, where to purchase a sim, and the cost would be appreciated.
Thanks--Susan
Oct 8th, 2006, 12:17 PM
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Well I don't know a thing about Turkish sim cards however....
Turkey is considered a United Mobile zone 1 country which means all incoming calls to you in Turkey while on United Mobile will be free.
Couple that with a callbackworld account and you can call North America for 14¢/minute (and make local calls too but you'll have to check the United Mobile web site for rates)....
The advantage of United Mobile is the sim can be set up with English language voice prompts and English language voice mail...don't know if you can do that with a Turkish sim.
Turkey is considered a United Mobile zone 1 country which means all incoming calls to you in Turkey while on United Mobile will be free.
Couple that with a callbackworld account and you can call North America for 14¢/minute (and make local calls too but you'll have to check the United Mobile web site for rates)....
The advantage of United Mobile is the sim can be set up with English language voice prompts and English language voice mail...don't know if you can do that with a Turkish sim.
Oct 8th, 2006, 12:25 PM
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Jan 2nd, 2015, 04:05 AM
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Hey Susan,
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!
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!
Mar 18th, 2015, 02:38 PM
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I don't know if this is still helpful for you, hope it is...
I rented a mobile hotspot from rent connect
http://www.rentnconnect.com/
We prepaid it, and the company sent me the contract and the gadget to the hotel in Istanbul (I think you can also pick it up in the Istanbul airport or they can send it to you to other big Turkish cities).
At the end, we left it at the designated place in the Istanbul airport and they send me a mail next day saying that they received it.
The four of us could connect our cell phones, ipods, etc. You just have to recharge it in the middle of the day if I remember ok, and also, you have to bring one or two outlet international adaptors if you have many electronic devices like cell, tablet, camera, and you travel in group. I think they give you one.
For my family it worked perfect and the price was reasonable, and better than buying a Sim Card (I think there was some bureaucracy ( misspelled?) around buying a sim card).
I rented a mobile hotspot from rent connect
http://www.rentnconnect.com/
We prepaid it, and the company sent me the contract and the gadget to the hotel in Istanbul (I think you can also pick it up in the Istanbul airport or they can send it to you to other big Turkish cities).
At the end, we left it at the designated place in the Istanbul airport and they send me a mail next day saying that they received it.
The four of us could connect our cell phones, ipods, etc. You just have to recharge it in the middle of the day if I remember ok, and also, you have to bring one or two outlet international adaptors if you have many electronic devices like cell, tablet, camera, and you travel in group. I think they give you one.
For my family it worked perfect and the price was reasonable, and better than buying a Sim Card (I think there was some bureaucracy ( misspelled?) around buying a sim card).
