Welcome to Turkey?

[Hickmanbcfc]

Hello,

I’ve been working in Cyprus for the past 5 months and decided to buy a Cypriot SIM card right at the start, to stop the possibility of any unexpected bills.

I just popped in my British SIM card to log into a website using the wifi, and I received a message saying ‘Welcome to Turkey’.

Now, I’m NOT in Nothern Cyprus, nor have I ever had this message when I’ve popped in my British SIM card for a few minutes last time. I’m now worried I’ll be charged extra, even though I haven’t been to the Northern side of Cyprus. It’s clearly picked up the wrong mast I’m guessing? As soon as I saw the message, I popped the SIM card straight out.

Can someone confirm if I’ll get charged extra for this at all? 

[AnnS]

Hi @Hickmanbcfc 

You were probably close to the border and the phone picked up and connected to the Turkish network and may have downloaded a small amount of chargeable data. The only thing to do is check your Application or online account.  This may need to wait until you have received the next months bill, any charge now would be unbilled.

To avoid this happening the next time you use your UK SIM go into your network connection settings, do a manual roam, select manual not automatic and select a Southern Cyprus network where you are able to get a connection.

[BandOfBrothers]

The next time you insert your UK Sim Card @Hickmanbcfc I would suggest turning Off Mobile Data in the phone's settings before inserting the sim and turning on the phone to stop any unwanted mobile data connection.

Also look in your phone's settings to ensure there is no setting that allows one connection over the other if one particular connection is weak or lost.

You could check with Live Chat to see if there is any available billing Data usage on your account. 

[donnyguy]

You may have potentially been charged the £6 per day flat charge if your phone has used data on the Turkish networks that are present in the north of Cyprus. 

The issue you describe though happens to anyone who lives or travels close to a border. 

The solutions are:

- Turn off data roaming (if you don't want to use data at all) or 

- Do a manual network search and pick a Cypriot network (Cyta-Voda), that way even if your phone does pick up a signal from the Turkish networks, it won't lock onto it.