Eye on Roaming Charges Turkey

Turkey has some of the most notoriously overpriced mobile costs for business travellers, which can be avoided with a bespoke roaming plan.

When planning business trips to Turkey, it’s important to bear in mind that Turkey is not part of the EU free roaming zone. This subsequently means that your UK allowances of minutes, texts and data will not apply for the duration of your stay.

Instead, your provider’s standard international data roaming charges will come into play, unless your plan includes international usage in Turkey. But as it’s comparatively rare for a standard mobile agreement in the UK to include coverage in Turkey, chances are you will be charged at the standard rate.

Roaming Charges in Turkey

The costs of using mobile devices in Turkey can be notoriously high, due to the lack of free-roaming agreements. Costs vary significantly from one provider and agreement to the next, but some average charges based on typical rates put the whole thing into perspective:

1. Sending Images: Approximately £1 per image.
2. Downloading Files: Costs can range from £3 to £10 per MB, depending on the provider.
3. Making Video Calls: Video calls can cost around £2 to £5 per minute.

All of this means that unless the necessary steps are taken to avoid these excessive costs, roaming charges for even a brief business trip to Turkey can be extremely high.

Issues with Buying a Local SIM Card in Turkey

While getting a local SIM card upon arrival is a viable option, it is not a particularly convenient or cost-effective solution. Complications associated with local SIM card purchases in Turkey include:

1. Identification Requirements: To buy a local SIM card, you’ll need to present your ID or passport – a copy of which will be retained by the provider.
2. Expensive Calls: Using a local SIM to make calls to Turkish numbers can be costly, especially for international businesses.
3. Device Locking: There’s a risk that your mobile device might be locked from local service after 120 days automatically, causing unnecessary inconvenience.
4. Limited Coverage: Turkey’s coverage is primarily 3G across 95% of the country, with 4G available in major cities like Konya and Istanbul. Connectivity drops significantly outside built-up areas.
5. Locked to a Provider: Some local SIM cards may be locked to a specific provider, resulting in additional charges to connect to other networks.

Savings can be made by getting a made-for-purpose local SIM, but you could still end up paying a high price for even the most modest device usage. An issue exacerbated by the simple fact that most local SIMs are not designed for business use, but more with casual leisure travel in mind.

RoamingExpert: Affordable and Hassle-Free Roaming in Turkey

By far, the best solution for anyone travelling to Turkey for business purposes is a bespoke roaming agreement. By crafting a unique plan based on your specific requirements and travel plans,

RoamingExpert can ensure you stay connected for the duration of your trip, without the hassle of unexpected charges or service limitations.

Here’s how RoamingExpert can save you time and stress when travelling to Turkey for business purposes:

1. Spend Cap and Monitoring Alerts: We implement a spending cap as per your agreement to keep you within your budget. Monitoring alerts can be activated to provide an overview of costs and usage, allowing adjustments if needed.
2. Affordable Roaming Plans: With RoamingExpert, a SIM card for Turkey can cost as little as £5 per day, including 25GB of data and free calls and texts within Turkey.
3. Personalised Roaming Agreement: We take the time to understand the unique requirements of your business, in order to create a tailor-made roaming agreement that suits your requirements perfectly – everything you need and nothing you don’t.

Coupled with a centralised dashboard for simplified billing and priority customer support, RoamingExpert can ensure you have at least one less thing to worry about when heading to Turkey for business.

Don’t let elevated roaming charges in Turkey hold back your business – choose Roaming Expert and stay connected without compromise.

If you’d like to find out more about our process, please check out how it works here and of course, feel free to give our team a call any time on +44 (0) 3300 555 777.