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SIMCollector · 14-10-2009, 02:40

I came back from Turkey a couple of months ago and got 4 Pre-paid turk cell sims. Two were registered to me and the other two appear to be registered to people I have never heard of before. Despite the laws of Turkey there appears to be ways to have many sims if you want it.

When you have on-line access to your turk cell sim account it will show you your registered name and the life span of the sim.

The problem I have now is getting small top-ups for the sims to keep them alive. I dont have all the details at hand right now, but when you are in turkey it is possible to buy very small top-ups in the Turkcell extra shops (and others). Turkcell extra shops are the best to go in as they are less likely to rip you off - although it can happen if your not careful. The Turkish Kontor system for credits really got me to begin with !

If you have a turkish bank account t is possible to top-up your pre-paid sim from there. I have also found the following website which presently allows top-ups using a credit card to Vodaphone sims :

www dot mobytop dot com/home.php

The above website also states you can top up some other interesting country's sims, including, laos, indonesia and vietnam - but it does not cover all operators in all countries mentioned.

While I was in Turkey I was also oferred the opportunity to get a post-paid turkcell account. To have one of these you need a bank account there and a turkish address. Its not difficult to get a bank account there, but if you dont want to do that, there maybe some shop owners (this time not Turk Cell extra shops, smaller independents) who will make arrange ments for you to get a post paid sim. How ongoing payment for this would work I dont know, but I was certainly offered this. It may well have turned out to be a rip-off, I dont know. Still if you go to one of the state owned banks, opening an account is straight forward, see :

www dot tbb dot org dot tr/eng/Banka_ve_Sektor_Bilgileri/Banka_Listesi.aspx

www dot turkeytravelplanner dot com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=3984

and heres some info I have on mobiles :

www dot bodrumpropertyforsale dot co dot uk/FAQ_Turkey_Property.htm
MOBILE PHONES NEED TO BE REGISTERED FOR USE WITH SIM CARDS BOUGHT IN TURKEY
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.
Mobile phones to be brought into Turkey are to be registered with the Telecommunication Institution or with the mobile phone shops of Turkish Network Operators (Avea, Turkcell or Telsim).
Documents required for the registration of mobile phones are:
* TR Citizenship Number or Passport number
* Passport (Identity details indicated on the passport)
* Copies of all Turkish entry/exit stamps in the passport
No more than one mobile phone per person can be registered in one calendar year.

So to summarise, my own experience is far from what the rules state.

	(#7)
SIMCollector (Offline) Junior Member Amateur Member Posts: 26 Join Date: 13 Oct 2009 Country:	14-10-2009, 02:40 I came back from Turkey a couple of months ago and got 4 Pre-paid turk cell sims. Two were registered to me and the other two appear to be registered to people I have never heard of before. Despite the laws of Turkey there appears to be ways to have many sims if you want it. When you have on-line access to your turk cell sim account it will show you your registered name and the life span of the sim. The problem I have now is getting small top-ups for the sims to keep them alive. I dont have all the details at hand right now, but when you are in turkey it is possible to buy very small top-ups in the Turkcell extra shops (and others). Turkcell extra shops are the best to go in as they are less likely to rip you off - although it can happen if your not careful. The Turkish Kontor system for credits really got me to begin with ! If you have a turkish bank account t is possible to top-up your pre-paid sim from there. I have also found the following website which presently allows top-ups using a credit card to Vodaphone sims : www dot mobytop dot com/home.php The above website also states you can top up some other interesting country's sims, including, laos, indonesia and vietnam - but it does not cover all operators in all countries mentioned. While I was in Turkey I was also oferred the opportunity to get a post-paid turkcell account. To have one of these you need a bank account there and a turkish address. Its not difficult to get a bank account there, but if you dont want to do that, there maybe some shop owners (this time not Turk Cell extra shops, smaller independents) who will make arrange ments for you to get a post paid sim. How ongoing payment for this would work I dont know, but I was certainly offered this. It may well have turned out to be a rip-off, I dont know. Still if you go to one of the state owned banks, opening an account is straight forward, see : www dot tbb dot org dot tr/eng/Banka_ve_Sektor_Bilgileri/Banka_Listesi.aspx www dot turkeytravelplanner dot com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=3984 and heres some info I have on mobiles : www dot bodrumpropertyforsale dot co dot uk/FAQ_Turkey_Property.htm MOBILE PHONES NEED TO BE REGISTERED FOR USE WITH SIM CARDS BOUGHT IN TURKEY 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. Mobile phones to be brought into Turkey are to be registered with the Telecommunication Institution or with the mobile phone shops of Turkish Network Operators (Avea, Turkcell or Telsim). Documents required for the registration of mobile phones are: * TR Citizenship Number or Passport number * Passport (Identity details indicated on the passport) * Copies of all Turkish entry/exit stamps in the passport No more than one mobile phone per person can be registered in one calendar year. So to summarise, my own experience is far from what the rules state.