Turkey Report

DaveRo · 18-04-2011, 20:48

The Turkcell prepaid (Hazir Kart) data packages don't seem to have changed much:

http://www.turkcell.com.tr/bireysel/...eri/hazirkart/

DaveRo · 23-05-2011, 21:46

I just tried to buy a Turkcell prepaid card and register my phone today at a Turkcell shop. They copied my passport and entered the IMEI number into the computer.

All seemed to be going fine except that the SIM didn't work in the phone. This surprised the people in the shop. After much discussion and phoning their managers they declared that the phone was blocked and that it would start working after 2 days and then stop working after 10 days. This is contrary to what I expected which was that it would work immediately but stop working after 10 days unless it was registered: that was why I was registering it! I aborted the sale - a SIM that doesn't work, might work in a few days, but will then stop working after 10 days is not much use.

But I now don't know how the system is supposed to work. I'm in Turkey for 3 months. My experience suggests that you need to register your foreign phone just to use a prepaid SIM and that you can't use it for more than 10 days even if you do.

Can anybody shine any light on this?

DaveRo · 25-05-2011, 10:19

I went back to the Turkcall shop the next day and it turned out to be a Turkish-English mistranslation.

I still don't know why the phone was found to be blocked ('closed' was the word they used) when the Turkcell SIM was first put into it. Maybe that is normal now (though the shop seemed surprised). Maybe it's because I had been using it for a week for roaming. Others have reported in the past that their phones work initially then stop working after a few weeks.

What the shop people meant was that it would take a minimum of 2 days and a maximum of 10 to register the SIM+IMEI combination and unblock the phone. On the second visit to the shop the girl spoke better English: she said "it will probably work tomorrow unless there's a problem with that phone". And it did - so it's probably an overnight data transfer between Turkcell and the computers that check the IMEIs.

The process - buying the SIM (Hazir Kart SIMPlus) and registering the phone - cost me 43TL.

When it worked I dialed 8090 to change the language to English. NOTE you also need to do this AND listen to to the message right to the end or you won't get the 20TL credit that comes with the SIM.

I subscribed to 250Mb of data in a month by sending EKO to 2222. (There are other options on the Turkcell website but all in Turkish I think.) I got an confirmatory SMS.

The APN is 'internet' - no usernames or proxies. The phone seems to have acquired a set of APNs automatically.

Sending 'KALAN INTERNET' to 2222 gives me a data balance and expiry date.

So far so good. I don't yet know how to get a TL credit balance by SMS or whether the EKO option renews automatically.

DaveRo · 21-07-2011, 09:32

Turkcell Hazir Kart:

To get a money balance: *123#

The EKO internet package does renew automatically.

Expiry: if you do *166*5# you get two dates - one 180 days from the date of the last credit, and one 270 days after. I believe that the SIM expires if not credited before that later date.

I don't know whether it is possible to apply credit from outside Turkey, e.g. by using *122*nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn# (voucher number).

timmfive · 30-05-2012, 16:12

Hi all,

This seems to be the main Turkey thread, so I will post here.

My wife and I have two unlocked Android phones.

Last year I went to Turkcell, bought a SIM and registered, but it took forever to register and work.
I needed the phone urgently, so I went to an Avea shop and they sold me a SIM that worked.
Eventually we were able to use the Turkcell in her phones. Happy days.

We were out of the country for 6 months, and didn't top up the SIMs so they were understandable both expired when we returned a few weeks ago.

However, at the Istanbul airport, I was told by Avea and Turkcell desks that my phone showed up as registered last year, therefore I wouldn't be able to use it this year!?!?!

Luckily? my wife's phone wasn't registered, so we were able to register it with Turkcell and get a SIM for it. (SIM doesn't work in my phone... as though my phone is banned/blocked).

So has something changed in the Turkish phone registration laws?
Why was I being told I would "never be able to use my phone in Turkey again as I registered it last year"...

It seems like DaveRo managed. I might go into the a different shop and see what they say.

A bit confused / concerned. Not having a phone is a bummer.

	(#1)
DaveRo (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Fan Posts: 153 Join Date: 07 Jul 2006 Country:	18-04-2011, 20:48 The Turkcell prepaid (Hazir Kart) data packages don't seem to have changed much: http://www.turkcell.com.tr/bireysel/...eri/hazirkart/

	(#2)
DaveRo (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Fan Posts: 153 Join Date: 07 Jul 2006 Country:	23-05-2011, 21:46 I just tried to buy a Turkcell prepaid card and register my phone today at a Turkcell shop. They copied my passport and entered the IMEI number into the computer. All seemed to be going fine except that the SIM didn't work in the phone. This surprised the people in the shop. After much discussion and phoning their managers they declared that the phone was blocked and that it would start working after 2 days and then stop working after 10 days. This is contrary to what I expected which was that it would work immediately but stop working after 10 days unless it was registered: that was why I was registering it! I aborted the sale - a SIM that doesn't work, might work in a few days, but will then stop working after 10 days is not much use. But I now don't know how the system is supposed to work. I'm in Turkey for 3 months. My experience suggests that you need to register your foreign phone just to use a prepaid SIM and that you can't use it for more than 10 days even if you do. Can anybody shine any light on this?

	(#3)
DaveRo (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Fan Posts: 153 Join Date: 07 Jul 2006 Country:	25-05-2011, 10:19 I went back to the Turkcall shop the next day and it turned out to be a Turkish-English mistranslation. I still don't know why the phone was found to be blocked ('closed' was the word they used) when the Turkcell SIM was first put into it. Maybe that is normal now (though the shop seemed surprised). Maybe it's because I had been using it for a week for roaming. Others have reported in the past that their phones work initially then stop working after a few weeks. What the shop people meant was that it would take a minimum of 2 days and a maximum of 10 to register the SIM+IMEI combination and unblock the phone. On the second visit to the shop the girl spoke better English: she said "it will probably work tomorrow unless there's a problem with that phone". And it did - so it's probably an overnight data transfer between Turkcell and the computers that check the IMEIs. The process - buying the SIM (Hazir Kart SIMPlus) and registering the phone - cost me 43TL. When it worked I dialed 8090 to change the language to English. NOTE you also need to do this AND listen to to the message right to the end or you won't get the 20TL credit that comes with the SIM. I subscribed to 250Mb of data in a month by sending EKO to 2222. (There are other options on the Turkcell website but all in Turkish I think.) I got an confirmatory SMS. The APN is 'internet' - no usernames or proxies. The phone seems to have acquired a set of APNs automatically. Sending 'KALAN INTERNET' to 2222 gives me a data balance and expiry date. So far so good. I don't yet know how to get a TL credit balance by SMS or whether the EKO option renews automatically.

	(#4)
DaveRo (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Fan Posts: 153 Join Date: 07 Jul 2006 Country:	21-07-2011, 09:32 Turkcell Hazir Kart: To get a money balance: 123# The EKO internet package does* renew automatically. Expiry: if you do 1665# you get two dates - one 180 days from the date of the last credit, and one 270 days after. I believe that the SIM expires if not credited before that later date. I don't know whether it is possible to apply credit from outside Turkey, e.g. by using 122nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn# (voucher number).

	(#5)
timmfive (Offline) Junior Member Amateur Member Posts: 14 Join Date: 12 Oct 2010 Country:	30-05-2012, 16:12 Hi all, This seems to be the main Turkey thread, so I will post here. My wife and I have two unlocked Android phones. Last year I went to Turkcell, bought a SIM and registered, but it took forever to register and work. I needed the phone urgently, so I went to an Avea shop and they sold me a SIM that worked. Eventually we were able to use the Turkcell in her phones. Happy days. We were out of the country for 6 months, and didn't top up the SIMs so they were understandable both expired when we returned a few weeks ago. However, at the Istanbul airport, I was told by Avea and Turkcell desks that my phone showed up as registered last year, therefore I wouldn't be able to use it this year!?!?! Luckily? my wife's phone wasn't registered, so we were able to register it with Turkcell and get a SIM for it. (SIM doesn't work in my phone... as though my phone is banned/blocked). So has something changed in the Turkish phone registration laws? Why was I being told I would "never be able to use my phone in Turkey again as I registered it last year"... It seems like DaveRo managed. I might go into the a different shop and see what they say. A bit confused / concerned. Not having a phone is a bummer.