Talk:Turkey/@comment-114.198.26.102-20171122012721

Hi Folks,

I visited Turkey back in 2013 for a 3month trekking stay and brought my own mobile handset with me. I had to pay the tax and run around for a whole day of frustration. I doubt much has changed since then. No one, including major Turkcell offices in Istanbul is fully cognisant of the procedures for foreigners and foreigner handsets. I had to find the Tax office myself in downtown Istanbul and the assistance I received was really good, but it took a long time find the information or its location. I could not pay at the Turkcell Office. I eventually had my data/phone service working for one whole day. Cost was approx $100 for the tax and the cost of the sim and one month data plan. I tried working out the problem when I arrived in Fethiye. Most telco shops in the country are franchises; you really need to go to an official Telco office before you can obtain decent advice. I found a really good Turkcell customer service operator eventually in Fethiye and my problem boiled down to the following: all mobile phone connections must be approved by the Government Department of Telecommunications; if they do not approve your service will cease and you will never find out the reason why your service will not work. No one in the Telcos will tell  you this. It appears the Telcos have no power or influence over those decisions made by the Govt Department. My best advice if you want to bring your own device is to hunt around for a Global Sim or European Carrier who also has deals with some of the Telcos in Turkey. As others have mentioned, wifi is readliy available almost everywhere, use that with WhatsApp or some other comms app. Happy Travels - It is a very interesting and hospitable country to visit. Tom from Australia