Mobile phones

legin


Joined: 15/11/2007
Posts: 105

Message Posted:
16/11/2007 08:14

Hi All

Coming to NC in Dec and one of the things i want to do is set up a mobile phone. Is it better to buy in uk and get a turkish sim card or buy in cyprus. Any advice appreciated, only sometimes, all this new technology is beyond me!

Legin

Barrovian1



Joined: 16/11/2007
Posts: 95

Message Posted:
16/11/2007 11:02

Hi Legin



I think it is better to get a sim card and use your original cell phone. You have to take your passport to the supplier, and then you pay 20YTL, you then pay for your PAYG cards they come in blocks of 20 & 50 YTL.



Good luck

Bob.

grahamlil


Joined: 10/10/2007
Posts: 143

Message Posted:
16/11/2007 11:08

How good is the mobile network, why can't you continue with a UK moble set to roaming, or is it cheaper to go for the Turkish card.



grahamlil

Barrovian1



Joined: 16/11/2007
Posts: 95

Message Posted:
16/11/2007 11:40

Grahamlil



I dont use a mobile phone in the UK, so sorry I cant comment. I work in the Oman, and the 1st time I was in the TRNC I was using the roaming Oman set to phone the UK, but that was working out expensive.

I have found no problems using the TRNC network to phone the UK, and your 20 YTL card goes quite a long way.



Bob.

ukturk



Joined: 01/09/2007
Posts: 1974

Message Posted:
16/11/2007 11:53

hi graham

i would say mate it is much cheaper to just take your english phone over to cyprus with you and buy a turkcell sim card which you can buy from any phone shop or from lemar just take your passport with you fill the form (name-address-imei number of the phone) this cost 20ytl and you get a 100 free credits then you can top up the phone by buying top up cards again from any phone shop or lemar these actually start from 5ytl upto 50ytl all you do is scratch the back off to reveal numbers then you phone 8090 and input the number followed by the # key to see how many credits you got on the phone you simply type *123# then send, also dont worry about language cos when you first register the phone you can select english

bringing your u.k sim card and roaming on turkcell can be expensive because even when you recive a call you pay on your end aswell as the caller paying for the call

their are a few mobile networks in cyprus turkcell-vodaphone-averia but i would stick with turkcell i would say better coverage but be warned if you do go over to south cyprus with your turkish sim card it will not work where you english sim card will work

hope this all help you mate

ukturk

wackyjim



Joined: 04/06/2007
Posts: 760

Message Posted:
16/11/2007 11:56

Graham



Uk mobile networks work well in NC but costs are prohibitive, during my first visit 4 years ago it cost me over £350 in just 10 days!!! I now have a seperate mob phone that I use with a turkcell top up sim card and divert my Uk mob number to that.



Jim.

simbas



Joined: 16/07/2007
Posts: 5943

Message Posted:
16/11/2007 11:58

Hi i have never had a problem with my mobile , but having just said that ive just dug out my bill and was approx £52 over what my usual bill is for 1wk in nc . so i guess yeh it is expensive-------- i will have to stop chatting so much

simbas

lovingcyprus


Joined: 02/03/2007
Posts: 1272

Message Posted:
16/11/2007 12:42

simbas



You do waste a lot of money don't you what with all those extra bank charges by using your debit card to get local currency and now using your uk phone in the TRNC

simbas



Joined: 16/07/2007
Posts: 5943

Message Posted:
16/11/2007 13:06

Yeh looks like that does'nt it ! i'm not good with finances . i leave all that to my long suffering husband { well thats what he calls himself } We have the perfect partnership he makes the money and i spend it i call that going 50/50 dont you ?

regards simbas

Milou


Joined: 15/10/2007
Posts: 425

Message Posted:
16/11/2007 13:22

Hi Lovingcyprus



Can you explain, "extra bank charges by using debit card". We intend using our Nationwide card to draw most our living expenses out - are you saying that by doing this, you get a lower exchange rate?



Regards

simbas



Joined: 16/07/2007
Posts: 5943

Message Posted:
16/11/2007 14:06

you shouldn't worry the nationwide does'nt charge its customers for using atm in nc so you wont get any bank charges. its only silly fools like me who gets stung.

regards simbas

lovingcyprus


Joined: 02/03/2007
Posts: 1272

Message Posted:
16/11/2007 14:16

Hi Milou



If you use your Nationwide card there are no charges, I understand that all other banks charge you for withdrawing money abroad. So you will be ok

orangekazzie



Joined: 31/07/2007
Posts: 1091

Message Posted:
16/11/2007 15:05

Back to mobile phones. If you plan to bring a UK one over then make sure its unlocked for use on other networks. Some of the UK operators have their phones locked to their networks and will not take a SIM card from another network. You can get them unlocked locally once over but its usually cheaper to get this done in UK (cost around £5).



Karen

ukturk



Joined: 01/09/2007
Posts: 1974

Message Posted:
16/11/2007 16:38

hi guys

good point karren yes make sure you do what she says otherwise you wont be able to use you phone with a foreign sim card

also there is not a actual problem to use your u.k sim in cyprus but you will be paying thru the nose (expensive) because even if someone calls you aswell as them paying for the call you also pay a surcharge for the call which can cost upto 35p a min

regards

ukturk

p.s also the point about drawing money out of the atm with a nationwide card you guys might be right in that you dont get charged any charges, but i would say that you will defo not get a good rate compared to changing sterling in cyprus thats how they earn their money if not thru charges thru a lower rate they give you, maybe i can suggest this to people use your nationwie card but go to a hsbc atm and you can draw out sterling with these machines then take your sterling and change at a change office or a bank

lovingcyprus


Joined: 02/03/2007
Posts: 1272

Message Posted:
16/11/2007 18:12

ukturk



Nationwide DO give you a decent rate unlike other banks

spud1


Joined: 22/05/2007
Posts: 544

Message Posted:
16/11/2007 18:18

thanks ukturk for your advice i am back over for a week from 3rd dec might save some money spud1

ukturk



Joined: 01/09/2007
Posts: 1974

Message Posted:
17/11/2007 12:44

hi all

loving cyprus im not disputing the fact that nationwide does not give a good rate compared to any of the other banks, but comparerd to the banks in cyprus and turkey their rates are by far much better!!! especially if you have an account with them, im only talking from my last 8 years experiance of changing money in turkey and in cyprus comparerd to changing money in the u.k or taking money out of the atm using a uk bank card

if you dont belive in what im saying take a look yourself compare the rate any banks (nationwide) or p/o give in the u.k to what the banks or change offices give in cyprus (also banks in the u.k give a flate daily rate where in turkey and cyprus the rate changes a few times in a day sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse)

reagards to you and all

ukturk

lovingcyprus


Joined: 02/03/2007
Posts: 1272

Message Posted:
17/11/2007 13:24

ukturk



I think there are crossed wires here. If you use your Nationwide debit card in the TRNC (not in the UK) in an ATM you get the same rate as if you had changed cash in the TRNC.



Also using a Nationwide credit card in the TRNC when the YTL cost is converted int GBP the exchange rate used is as good as you get in the TRNC had you changed sterling into YTL at that time

ukturk



Joined: 01/09/2007
Posts: 1974

Message Posted:
17/11/2007 13:33

hi spud

no probs mate anytime and i hope ypu have success in saving some money l.o.l

ukturk



Joined: 01/09/2007
Posts: 1974

Message Posted:
17/11/2007 14:06

hi lovincyprus

im talking about if you are a coming over from the u.k to cyprus with your u.k card i.e nationwide etc then withdrawing your money out of a atm machine in local currency, ive tried many diffrent ways in changing steling into lira in cyprus and in turkey and yes your are right nationwie do give a good rate but i assure you mate the best way (for me anyway) of changing money is having a cypriot bank account (i.e hsbc) and changing money thru your account (the best rate given) bacause all the banks in the u.k are given the rate based on what their head offices have given them in the u.k and like you said in your own words nationwide c/c the exchange rate used is as good but not the same or better where the whole purpose is too get a better rate

regards to you mate and all

ukturk



p.s please dont take this as im saying you are wrong im just saying from my past experiances i found the best way of doing this (rate wise) is changing sterling to lira through a cypriot bank like hsbc

ukturk



Joined: 01/09/2007
Posts: 1974

Message Posted:
17/11/2007 14:15

hi all

if you would like to carry on the conversation lets do it on the correct subject

http://www.cyprus44.com/forums/show-message.asp?messageID=662

and lets leave this to the mobile phone subject

regards

ukturk