Turkish Mobile Phone SIM Cards

Created by doina. Last modified on 2007-08-27 20:49:06
Countries: Turkey

Turkish Law has now changed meaning that foreigners bringing in their own phones will get it blocked if they try and use a local sim card and make calls at reasonable prices. The alternative is to i) use international roaming with your home sim card and then be charged HUGE amounts of money, or ii) bring in differnet documents and get your phone registered within Turkey (this is difficult enough for anyone, let alone foreigners!!).

However, I was recommended to purchase a new Turkish Telsim sim card - Blusim, sold in the UK solely by studentjetpacks.com. There is no need to register your phone, you receive free calls (as usual) and make calls abroad/within Turkey for local rates. Checkout www.studentjetpacks.com/travelshop (sim cards)

Hope it helps.

Tarkan Ahmet

Other comments received

Tried the Bluesim cell card reported for Turkey ... does not work ... Phone was shut down in less than two weeks ... card was blocked along with phone because it was not registered in Turkey ... this information was confirmed with Telsim (Vodafone).
We registered our own UK phone at the local Turkcell dealer when Turkey first changed the law over registering phones last year. This can still be done at the Turkcell stores when you buy a Turkcell sim card. All you need is your passport & a Turkish address (marina will do). Another alternative is to buy a cheap "pay as you go" Turkish phone!
(July 07)am currently in Turkey and have been using the Blusim sim card no problems. I recommend to top up online as its easier especially as my Turkish is not very good!
We purchased a Turkcell SIM card from the Turkcell office in Bodrum and registered our foreign bought phone with the Turkish government. We were told that it could take up to two weeks for registration to be completed and that our phone could be blocked after ten days. We've now been in the country for more than a month and have had no interruption of service. One must bring their passport to the Turkcell office in order to register their phone. (August 2007)