eSIM for Türkiye: the 120-day rule explained

Türkiye is the one country in our catalogue with a rule that exists nowhere else — and it is the only thing about it you genuinely need to know. Everything else is straightforward: coverage is good, there are three networks, and an eSIM works the moment you land.

The device registration rule, and why it does not apply to you

Türkiye registers handsets. Bring a phone into the country and put a Turkish SIM card in it, and the country records that phone's IMEI. After roughly 120 days the device is blocked on Turkish networks until you pay a registration fee, which is not small.

This is why people who once bought a local SIM at the airport find, years later, that their phone works everywhere except Türkiye.

The rule is triggered by a local SIM. Roaming does not trigger it, and an eSIM that works by roaming — like ours — does not trigger it either.

Our plans connect as a roaming visitor on Turkish networks rather than as a Turkish subscriber. Your handset stays unregistered, the 120-day clock never starts, and your next visit holds no surprise. If you are staying for months and weighing a local SIM, make that decision deliberately rather than at an arrivals counter.

Which networks you get

Our plans use Turkcell, Türk Telekom and Vodafone. Your phone takes the strongest and moves between them on its own.

The coast and the cities are well covered — Istanbul, Antalya, Izmir, the whole Aegean and Mediterranean strip. The difference shows inland: towards Cappadocia, across the Anatolian plateau and in the mountains, where one network reaches further than the others. On the road to Göreme and a dawn balloon flight, that is exactly what you want.

Türkiye is not in the EU — for anybody

This gets missed often. Roam-like-at-home covers the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Türkiye is not in that circle. A plan from Germany, Croatia or France does not apply there at domestic prices.

Coming from Serbia or Bosnia, the same holds: the Western Balkans regional roaming agreement does not include Türkiye.

In practice Türkiye is a country where nearly every foreign visitor pays full-price roaming — and therefore the country where sorting it out in advance pays for itself most clearly.

How much data

A week in Istanbul or on the coast — maps, messaging, translation, a few calls, photos — fits in 3 to 5 GB. Two things use more here than elsewhere:

• Translation. Turkish is not guessable from context the way Romance languages are, so you will open a translation app far more often than you would in Italy. Download Turkish for offline use — it works without a signal and costs its data once.
• Navigating Istanbul. The city is enormous and you will cross it by ferry, metro and on foot in the same day. Save the offline map, or you will be fetching tiles all day.

And the thing that costs most everywhere: photos backing themselves up. Set backup to WiFi only before you leave.

The Bosphorus, ferries and underground

Istanbul's Bosphorus ferries take about fifteen minutes and hold a signal throughout — this is not Greek open water. The metro has coverage on most lines. What does struggle is the dense old city at peak hour, where the network is not weak but crowded.

If Cappadocia is on the plan: the road from Nevşehir to Göreme and the balloon fields crosses ground where networks differ. That is where having more than one genuinely earns its place.

Setting it up before you fly

1. Install at home on WiFi and leave the line switched off.
2. Leave data roaming off until you land — a plan counts from its first connection, not from payment.
3. On landing, turn the travel line on and switch data roaming on for that line only.
4. Keep your own number on for calls, with its data roaming off.

Istanbul's airports have free WiFi, but it asks for confirmation by SMS — awkward when your data is off and your home number is on expensive roaming. An eSIM installed beforehand removes the question.

Mistakes worth avoiding

• Buying a local SIM at the airport "just in case". That is precisely what starts device registration and the 120-day clock.
• Assuming an EU plan covers it. It does not; Türkiye is not in the EU.
• Turning everything on as the plane lands. Your home line grabs a Turkish network and the meter starts on the runway.
• Not downloading translation and maps first. Both work offline, and both get used most where the signal is worst.

Short answers

Will my phone get blocked? No. Blocking is triggered by a Turkish SIM card in your handset, not by roaming and not by our eSIM.

Do I get a Turkish number? No. The eSIM carries data; your own number stays yours.

Does it work in Cappadocia and the south-east? Yes, with thinner coverage far from roads — as anywhere mountainous.

Does my German plan work? Not at domestic prices. Türkiye is outside the EU.

Can I tether? Yes.