Telecommunications in Turkey provides information about television, radio, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Telecommunications liberalisation

The

telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

liberalisation Liberalization or liberalisation (British English) is a broad term that refers to the practice of making laws, systems, or opinions less severe, usually in the sense of eliminating certain government regulations or restrictions. The term is used ...

process started in Turkey in 2004 after the creation of the Telecommunication Authority, and is still ongoing as of May 2013.

Private sector The private sector is the part of the economy which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The private sector employs most of the workfo ...

companies operate in

mobile telephony Mobile telephony is the provision of wireless telephone services to mobile phones, distinguishing it from fixed-location telephony provided via landline phones. Traditionally, telephony specifically refers to voice communication, though th ...

, long distance telephony and

Internet access Internet access is a facility or service that provides connectivity for a computer, a computer network, or other network device to the Internet, and for individuals or organizations to access or use applications such as email and the World Wide ...

. There were 12.3 million (12.300.390) fixed

phone lines A telephone line or telephone circuit (or just line or circuit industrywide) is a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system. It is designed to reproduce speech of a quality that is understandable. It is the physical wire or oth ...

, 82.2 million (82.795.432)

mobile phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...

subscribers, and 80.9 million

broadband In telecommunications, broadband or high speed is the wide-bandwidth (signal processing), bandwidth data transmission that exploits signals at a wide spread of frequencies or several different simultaneous frequencies, and is used in fast Inter ...

subscribers (10.6 million xDSL, 3.8 million Fibre, 1.2 million Cable, 65 million Mobile) by Q3 2020. Telecommunications liberalisation in Turkey is progressing, but at a slow pace. The Telecommunication Authority (now renamed Bilgi İletişim ve Teknolojileri Kurumu or BTK), while technically an independent organization, is still controlled by the Ministry of Transport and Communications. While progress is being made (for example, local as well as long distance calls are now open to competition), the

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

has so far managed in many areas to restrict access and protect its

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...

. For example,

wholesale Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...

line rental is still not available to alternative operators, making it necessary for subscribers to pay two bills (one for line rental to the incumbent, and one to the chosen operator). The incumbent has so far managed to prevent any operator from connecting its own fiber optic cable at local loop unbundling exchanges, though it is technically required to allow this. Recently, the incumbent announced it is acquiring Invitel, one of only two other players in the inter-city capacity business, raising questions as to how the Turkish Competition Board will treat the acquisition. The lack of progress by the BTK in ensuring a competitive playing field can be evidenced by the

market share Market share is the percentage of the total revenue or sales in a Market (economics), market that a company's business makes up. For example, if there are 50,000 units sold per year in a given industry, a company whose sales were 5,000 of those ...

the incumbent still holds. In broadband, the incumbent's provider still occupies roughly 95% share of the market. The Governmental Audit Office of the President (T.C. Cumhurbaşkanlığı Devlet Denetleme Kurulu) issued a highly critical report of the BTK in February 2010, listing 115 findings to be addressed. For example, the report found #20 points out that the BTK has completed only 50% to 78% of its stated work plans in each of the years from 2005-2008. Alternative operators are rapidly growing, yet much progress needs to be made by the BTK to improve the competitive landscape.

Authorities

The political authority is

Ministry of Transport, Maritime and Communication (Turkey) The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure () is a government ministry office of the Republic of Turkey, responsible for transport, information and communication services in Turkey. Its head office is in Ankara Ankara is the capital city o ...

. But there are also two supreme councils; Radio and Television Supreme Council (abbreviated RTÜK) and

Information and Communication Technologies Authority The Information and Communication Technologies Authority (ICTA) (), is a national telecommunications regulatory and inspection authority of Turkey. It was formerly known as the Telecommunications Authority (Turkish: ''Telekomünikasyon Kurumu (TK) ...

(abbreviated BTK). While internet and point to point telecommunication is controlled by BTK, radio and television broadcast is controlled by RTÜK.

Made in Turkey mobile devices

In January 2021 ''

Daily Sabah The ''Daily Sabah'' () is a Turkish pro-government daily newspaper published in Turkey. Available in English and owned by Turkuvaz Media Group, ''Daily Sabah'' published its first issue on 24 February 2014. Since 2018, the editor-in-chief is � ...

'' reported that

Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...

had started local manufacture a line of mobile phones in Turkey. Samsung is the leader of the Turkish mobile market with 40% market share. Chinese firm

Oppo Oppo (sometimes stylized as OPPO) is a private company, private China, Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong. Founded in 2004, its major product lines include Oppo phones, smartphones, Smart device, sm ...

released their first Made in Turkey smartphone in March 2021 with a retail price around $346. The phone has 64 GB storage, microSD support, 6.5" display and a MediaTek Helio P35 chipset.

Registration and fees for foreign mobile devices

In 2017, the Turkish government introduced a requirement for all mobile phones to be registered in order to access Turkish mobile networks; both the user's details as well as the phone's

IMEI The International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) is a numeric identifier, usually Unique identifier, unique, for 3GPP and iDEN mobile phones, as well as some satellite phones. It is usually found printed inside the battery compartment of the ph ...

must be provided. Phones that are used in the country for less than 120 days cumulatively are exempted from the registration requirement. This registration requirement "allows the government to track users’ calls, messages, and other phone activities to prevent illegal or dangerous content." Registering a mobile phone purchased abroad also requires the payment of a fee, which is (about US$930). , Turkish citizens living abroad are allowed to use foreign-purchases phones for up to 180 days in-country without paying the fee, although registration within 120 days is still required. The registration fees for foreign mobile phones have increased very rapidly since 2017. Due to high fees and taxes, some smartphones cost nearly twice as much as they do in North America and Europe.

References

External links