Mobile phones / phone cards

[Ojjah]

Hi all
My first post, ready for my first holiday to Kalkan on Sunday!
Can you tell me if it is easy to buy a PAYG vodaphone sim card in Kalkan for calling home or if it is easier to buy a phone card and use a telephone box (haven''t done that for a while!)
Vodaphone has got rid of roaming charges but this doesn''t include Turkey and a call is £1.49 per minute home and about £1 a min to receive, and I will probably have to call home several times in the 2 weeks as my auntie is ill
Thanks all

Linkback: https://www.enjoykalkan.com/forum/index.php?topic=3767.0

[DawnT]

Hiya

Do check that your phone is unblocked, otherwise you won''t be able to use the PAYG Turkish Sim!!  I have just invested in a Turkish phone which for 85YTL works out a lot cheaper than the bills that I normally get when I return home!!

Have a great time, you will love it!!

[clashgour]

For cheap calls the PTT (Post Office) is the best.  There are two handsets at the far end of the counter which you just need to use and pay at the counter when you have finished.  It''s very unusual for the bill to come to more than 3/4 YTL for a 10 min call to a UK landline and about twice that for a call to a UK mobile.

If you buy a Turkish SIM card it will normally work for about two weeks before it is blocked.

[DawnT]

Sorry, must correct myself!!  Turkish sims are ok in Turkish phones, which I have invested in, but as clashgour correctly points out they will be become blocked if used in a uk phone!!  Hope that makes sense!

[Lantana]

If, when you purchase a Turkish sim card for your mobile phone you ask for the phone to be registered (there is no charge for registration) you can use the phone with that sim card for  a twelve month period from the date of registration.

See below the page from the Turksih Consulate London website

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.

Lantana

[Enişte]

I recently bought a Turkish SIM card, initially to use in a phone belonging to my Turkish relatives.  To allow thıs card to be used in my British phone, I needed a PAC code from my British service provider (Virgin), although this may vary according to which UK system you use.  The maın stumbling block for registering my British phone here was that it cannot be done in Kalkan (at least on Turkcell) and we were told we needed to go to Fethiye to do this.  My wife eventually did it in Antalya and has now been told that she cannot register another phone for 2 years (1 each for mine and her British phones).

Might I suggest that the PTT option looks easiest?

[Ojjah]

Oh great thanks for the replies.  I think I will probably use the post office, but as my handset is probably blocked by vodaphone I will look into the sim option for another time- hey everyone else seems to go to Kalkan more than once, so we will probably be no different!!!   

[alantj]

If you have a smartphone, another option making Skype calls from one of the many bars/restaurants with free WiFi.This only costs a few pence a minute, or free to other Skype users.

Regards

Alan