Turkey suggestions?
 

I am going to Istanbul for a week and wonder if anyone has suggestions on a decent prepaid SIM to get. I would probably want 500MB of data, though I'm sure I could survive with 200MB.

Likely I will not be doing very much calling. I would think less than 60 minutes worth.

Any suggestions appreciated!

Currently checking out the info on:
http://prepaidwithdata.wikia.com/wiki/Turkey

But if anyone has additional thoughts....

I'd go Vodafone, but you'll need to register your equipment in Turkey or buy a local device. I've done it in the past and it's a pain in the ar$e. Apparenly they've changed the rules yet again and you also need to visit a police station to do it: http://theistanbulletin.com/2013/01/...foreign-phone/

If I were you I'd go with Vodafone Italy's Smart Passport 500MB + 50 minutes for EUR3/day.

Thanks for the info. I had read that you should be able to use your device hopefully for up to 30 days without registering it. I will only be there for a week. So I am hoping it doesn't get blocked before I leave.

I do have two phones with me. So maybe I can switch the SIM card if my first phone gets blocked.

Let us know how it works out for you!

Turkey really has made life difficult for visitors. I understand that data-only SIM cards are not subject to the device registration requirements. Therefore couldn't one get a data-only SIM and use a VOIP service for both outgoing and incoming calls? This also has the added benefit of depriving Turkey of revenue for outgoing calls and termination fees for incoming calls, revenue that they hardly deserve in view of this unnecessarily restrictive policy.

Back in 2010 Vodafone 'data only' SIM cards were voice capable. I was told I had to register the modem so I ended up buying a Huawei E169 as it was cheaper than the registration tax.

As for VoIP, SIP calls were blocked, but Skype worked fine.

That's a shame. As for Skype, if there's a way through a firewall or around port blocking, Skype will always find it. Although Skype is great for free peer-to-peer Skype calls, it's expensive for calls to and from normal phone lines.

My experience
 

I ended up going to a Turkcell shop. They are almost everywhere in Istanbul. I sometimes see 2-3 Turkcell stops while standing in one spot.

My experience was not great. I went to what appeared to be a company store as it was quite large. They spoke very little English but were able to sell me a SIM card for 44 TL ($22). Luckily there was a customer who spoke English who helped translate. They said to wait one hour and my SIM would become activated. Once it was activated I could then come back and add on 1GB of data for 25 TL ($12.50). I was supposed to dial 8090 once the SIM became activated.

Unfortunately I went two days without the SIM becoming activated. But finally on the third day I turned on my phone and I was on the network. I then dialed 8090, set it to English. Then went into a Turkcell shop and added my 1GB of data.

Not sure if I maybe should have tried power cycling my phone more often. Maybe it would have become active sooner. I had mainly just left it powered on.

During the two days when it didn't work I had no success on figuring out what was wrong. One person told me my phone # was disconnected. Another said that I had to pay the tax on the phone before it would work. But then it worked on my 3rd day when I turned it on.

I'll see if my phone gets cut-off before I leave on day seven.

If I go to Turkey and roam using another country SIM (I'm thinking Vodafone Italia), do I still have to do the whole registration/tax thing?

Supposedly you can use your phone for up to 30 days before it would be blocked. But can happen much quicker. My two phones with foreign SIMs are still working after six days.

Some details here:
http://prepaidwithdata.wikia.com/wiki/Turkey

There's no registration requirement for roaming customers. IMEI blacklisting only takes place when used in conjunction with Turkish SIM cards.

I was able to use my Turkcell SIM card the entire time. Though I did get an SMS message that made me think that they would blacklist my phone's IMEI at some point in the future. I was only there for a week and once it started working it kept working.

According to the Turkish consulate in London:

Turkish and foreign visitors are entitled to bring one mobile phone into Turkey within one calendar year for use during their stay in Turkey. A personal mobile phone brought in to Turkey in this manner is exempt from tax and duty.

It is necessary to register the mobile phones in order to use them with SIM card bought from a Turkish network operator. (In order to use such a mobile phone with a SIM card bought in Turkey from a Turkish network operator, the mobile phone number assigned to the SIM card needs to be correlated with the IMEI number of the mobile phone. The handset can only be registered with one line. Phones not registered in this way will be blocked and unable to receive or make calls. There is no charge levied for this registration.)

No customs documents are required for the registration of mobile phones.

Don't forget special tariffs designed for turkish immigrants...

In Germany, the E-plus subsidiary "AY YILDIZ" has very competitive prepaid tariffs for people who travel between Germany and Turkey.

"AY YILDIZ" has a charming new TV commercial (in German):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jds8F1hrJk

Video commentary:

Your life is here...
Your heart beats here...

You travel between cultures...
That's why you see so much more...

You unite opponents...

You live for two...
You have two heart beats...

Your stories make you unique...
Your ideas build bridges between two worlds...
That makes you special...

Let the world hear your voice...
Either loudly...
Or softly...

Show what your heart feels...
To everyone...
Or only to the most important person...

Share your thoughts...
With friends...
Or with the whole world...

Ay yildiz, because you have something to say...

My experience with Turkcell ended in June 2012:
http://yachtvigdis.wordpress.com/mob...ess-in-turkey/

In that blogpost is a link to the Turkish site which is supposed to give the latest regulations: http://imei.tk.gov.tr/
Note that the English version of that site is out of date: you'll just have to use google translate. And in Turkey (and throughout the Med) there is often a big difference between the law and what actually happens.

The 2013 regulation on the istanbulletin site (nice name!) looks very plausible to me but I've no first- or second-hand knowledge of it. Please feedback your experience.

Is it possible to get around the registration requirement by buying one's SIM card in the Turkish-occupied (northern) part of Cyprus? I understand that two of the Turkish networks have coverage there using the same MCC/MNC as Turkey.