Turkey’s new 4G mobile network comes with many dark clouds
While the fourth-generation mobile data network arrived in Turkey this month, high costs, insufficient infrastructure and potential concerns from the government mean doubts remain about the extent to which it will benefit citizens.
On April 1, the fourth-generation (4G) mobile data network finally arrived in Turkey — nearly eight years after arriving in Scandinavia and South Korea.
As Al-Monitor reported last year, Turkish mobile phone users had to wait for bureaucratic infighting and uncertain market conditions to clear up before they could use faster data connections. In May 2015, following an intervention by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and lobbying efforts by a mobile service provider that was not ready to compete, Turkey’s Information and Communications Technologies Authority postponed the 4G tender to August 2015.
