4 ms·

If you buy a phone in Turkey, it's IMEI is registered to a gov authority and you can use / transfer it as you wish. If you happen to buy one from another count

by eknkc 2y ago

If you buy a phone in Turkey, it's IMEI is registered to a gov authority and you can use / transfer it as you wish. If you happen to buy one from another country, it will be locked after 60 days of use and no carrier will connect it after that. You can use your passport to to prove that it was not imported commercially but you brought it with you and register it. For $1000 (yeah). And it is locked to your ID. Can't transfer it to someone else. IMEI cloning from an already registered donor phone was a thing and maybe it still is but as far as I can tell, high end phones pretty much lock it tightly. BTW, this also affects a lot of other stuff. Can't buy a gps dog tracker from amazon. Can't buy a gsm module for your arduiono etc... My car has a connectivity system where it provides internet to the in car infotainment system and also allows me to open doors etc remotely. It only recently became operational when the distributor finally managed to register the IMEI numbers. A lot of companies do not bother (Mercedes, BMW etc are equipped with similar systems, not operational)

vegetablepotpie 2y ago
> Can't buy a gsm module for your arduiono What do you mean by that? Ostensibly I can. https://www.adafruit.com/product/2687 https://www.adafruit.com/product/2687 Note: it’s on back order, but in theory I would be able to buy a GSM module for my Arduino.
- circuit10 2y ago
  From reading the message, it wouldn't work in Turkey because the IMEI is blocked
  - anticensor 2y ago
    it is a whitelist, not a blacklist
- meeb 2y ago
  They mean you can buy the adapter, but it won’t work in Turkey as the EMEI isn’t on the official allowed list and isn’t registered.
- AceyMan 2y ago
  as a native English speaker I transparently read that as,"there's no point in buying a GSM module [...]", but I can see how others might possibly be tripped up by that construction.
  - eknkc 2y ago
    Oh this is interesting. I’d think it is implied enough that there would be no confusion. My native Turkish might be seeping through though. Thanks for the heads up.
- loufe 2y ago
  FYI "ostensibly" means 'seemingly, but not actually'. In this case I think you mean just "seemingly".
slim 2y ago
We have the same thing in Tunisia. I wonder which other countries have this

by eknkc 2y ago

vegetablepotpie 2y ago

> Can't buy a gsm module for your arduiono What do you mean by that? Ostensibly I can. https://www.adafruit.com/product/2687 https://www.adafruit.com/product/2687 Note: it’s on back order, but in theory I would be able to buy a GSM module for my Arduino.

circuit10 2y ago
From reading the message, it wouldn't work in Turkey because the IMEI is blocked
- anticensor 2y ago
  it is a whitelist, not a blacklist
meeb 2y ago
They mean you can buy the adapter, but it won’t work in Turkey as the EMEI isn’t on the official allowed list and isn’t registered.
AceyMan 2y ago
as a native English speaker I transparently read that as,"there's no point in buying a GSM module [...]", but I can see how others might possibly be tripped up by that construction.
- eknkc 2y ago
  Oh this is interesting. I’d think it is implied enough that there would be no confusion. My native Turkish might be seeping through though. Thanks for the heads up.
loufe 2y ago
FYI "ostensibly" means 'seemingly, but not actually'. In this case I think you mean just "seemingly".

slim 2y ago

We have the same thing in Tunisia. I wonder which other countries have this