[redboyuk]

im off to turkey in 2 weeks and i wanna take a payg simcard to use in my blackberry. im confused by all the different things on the websites of the networks.

thanks in advance

[TheBigM]

you may well be better off simply buying one over there

[wavejockglw]

Turkey is a difficult one as its outwith the EU and rates are very high for both making and receiving calls when roaming using a UK network SIM. Vodafone are £1.69 a min for both receive and making calls home despite the fact they own 100% of Vodafone Turkey! From memory, although it would be best to do your own research Virgin offer the cheapest calls at around 60p/min.

You can't just put a local SIM in a UK handset as it will be blocked by the Turkish networks within hours. Turkey blocks the use of local SIMS in non Turkish handsets to prevent the importation and sale of stolen phones (it also helps stop the trade in stolen tourist handsets). If you want to use a local SIM in a UK phone it must be registered with the Turkish Telecommunications Authority and this can be done at any network owned store for about 7TL. It can take about a day or so for it to be cleared and thereafter you can use it with a local SIM. Vodafone charge about 20p/min for calls on PAYG to the UK and local calls are very cheap. Texts are about 20p to UK too. You will need proof of purchace of your handset and your passport to get registered and you may only register one handset every two years with your passport.

For roaming all the Turkish networks are good but Turkcell and Vodafone are the most common (the other is Avea) and data on Vodafone I have found lightning fast in areas upgraded to 3G.

[!!11oneone]

From what I understand, a local SIM would only be blocked within a couple of weeks rather than hours, but it might not be worth losing your money on a local SIM.

Note, of course, that any local SIM probably won't have the secure BlackBerry connection for email and so the email service might not work. You might well be better off checking if your hotel has wifi and connecting to that instead.

[wavejockglw]

Quote:

Originally Posted by !!11oneone

From what I understand, a local SIM would only be blocked within a couple of weeks rather than hours, but it might not be worth losing your money on a local SIM.

Recent personal experience has proved 24 hours is a bit much to hope for before being blocked.

The Turks are now pretty efficient and staff in hotels who buy handsets from tourists get them registered right away with a passport, they don't risk waiting on the inevitable block.