Mobile Phones and GSM Card in North Cyprus

You can use your mobile phone in North Cyprus. There are currently two GSM operators in Northern Cyprus. These are Telsim and KKTCell. Both companies are based in Turkey and as long as you have roaming facilities on your mobile phone you will be able to use your mobile phone whilst staying in Northern Cyprus.

GSM coverage in North Cyprus operates on GSM 900 and GSM 1800. GSM 900 has greater penetration. Please be sure to check with your local phone company which GSM band your mobile supports because if your mobile does not support these two GSM bands, you will not be able to use your mobile phone in North Cyprus.

If you have a quad band phone you will be fine. If your mobile phone is tri band you will need to make sure that the Northern Cyprus GSM band is one of your combinations. GSM 900 is the band that has the greatest coverage. As roaming charges can be quite costly, you do have another alternative.

You can buy a local sim card to use in your mobile phone while you are in Northern Cyprus. This will allow you to use your phone locally without having to pay roaming charges. The downside to this however, is that you will also have a new mobile number. In order to use this alternative, you will need to ensure that your mobile phone is not locked.

Another option for those who do not possess mobile phones is phone cards. There are phone booths situated all over Northern Cyprus. Phone cards can be purchased from the Telecommunications Office (PTT) which is situated opposite the post office in Kyrenia.

They are similar to the ones you can buy at home and all calls are charged at a fixed rate. These can be much cheaper than using your mobile phones roaming charges.