Communication problems in the earthquake area created huge problems. Experts spoke on this subject and made important statements.
As we said before, the problems started as soon as the earthquake happened. In this respect TR Communication Department, “All GSM operators have increased their capacity so that the people of the region do not suffer due to the earthquake in Pazarcık district of Kahramanmaraş. It will open the closed phone lines and provide internet service. It is announced to all our citizens” made the statement. If later “All GSM operators have opened their phone lines, which were closed by increasing the capacity. It is announced to all our citizens.” it was said. On top of that, the communication problems in the region continued for 8 days and some connection problems still continue to be seen. here’s about it Some of the BBC Turkish in the statements Informatics and Telecommunications Specialist Füsun Sarp Nebil, located in He says that only Türk Telekom has an infrastructure network, and if there is more than one network, these disruptions in communication will not occur:
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“Infrastructure in Turkey has been blocked for years. With the privatization in 2005, the privilege of the infrastructure in Turkey was given to Türk Telekom until 2026. In 2006, a regulation called infrastructure license was published by the Information Technologies Authority (BTK), and 14 companies received licenses within this framework. These companies paid 200-300 thousand dollars while getting their licenses. Despite this money, they were not employed. There is only one Türk Telekom network in the earthquake zone. There are base stations of operator companies on this network. Firms say that the antennas installed on the buildings collapsed with the buildings, their personnel remained under the debris and therefore they could not provide service. This would not have happened if there had been more than one network there.”
Another expert who spoke to BBC Turkish, but did not want to be named, says that as the sole infrastructure provider, it is not possible for Türk Telekom to reach the whole country, especially due to the lack of fiber in the earthquake region: “For example, if Türk Telekom has 3 or 4 fibers coming out of Hatay, of course, these were not enough, especially during the crisis. Imagine if five operators were allowed to set up their own alternative network infrastructures, such a problem would not exist.”
According to experts, another problem is the lack of transparency about how the funds collected from GSM companies are used to build infrastructure in places that they will not see as profitable. According to Füsun Sarp Nebil, telecom companies lack investment here: “When we talk for 1 lira in Turkey today, we pay 3 liras. $2 of that is tax. Special communications tax, which used to be an earthquake tax, and like a treasury share. In other words, telecom companies are currently employed as tax collectors. So they have no money to invest.”
According to Nebil’s research from the coverage maps of the GSM Association (GSMA), which monitors global mobile communication networks, 4G is available in only 15 percent of the country, although it came to Turkey in 2016. Most of the country still uses 3G, and in some places even 2G. Nebil, “There is a huge telecom sector potential in Turkey. The sector is idle and the government is creating a plug using BTK. There is a lot of work to be done in the infrastructure and superstructure.” says.
According to the Disaster and Emergency Response Services regulation in the news, mobile phone and fixed phone operators are responsible for fulfilling the requests received and ensuring that mobile and backup communication systems with sufficient capacity are established promptly in the disaster area.
So what did the operators say about these problems? The last statement about the process was as follows: “As the Association of Mobile Telecommunication Operators, it is our top priority to meet the communication needs of our citizens in the earthquake zone. Our member operators Turkcell, Turkish telecom And Vodafone, In cooperation with AFAD and our relevant ministries, it continues to work uninterruptedly with the effort to provide the best service to the people of the region.
- – Power cuts in the region also affect communication.
- – The fact that the distribution companies cannot provide electricity to the region requires the energy required for the base stations to be provided by generators.
- – In order to meet the energy need, 3,485 generators were urgently sent to the region by the operators.
- -Communication can only be sustained through mobile energy sources and the energy supply necessary for the operation of these sources.
Some disruptions may occur in service processes. - -Repair works on energy transmission are continuing rapidly.
On the other hand, unfortunately, due to earthquakes of our three operators 2,451 out of 8,900 base stations located in 10 provinces affected by the earthquake were disabled due to serious damage. Base station repair work continues at full speed. In addition, a total of 190 mobile base stations were dispatched to the region. We would like to state once again that our work continues 24/7 for our citizens who were affected by the earthquake and supported the search and rescue efforts in the region. We wish God’s mercy on our citizens who lost their lives in the earthquake, our condolences to their relatives, and a speedy recovery to our injured people.”
In this regard, it is necessary to remember the following sad detail:
Starlink is not approved by Turkish government yet. SpaceX can send as soon as approved.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 6, 2023
According to Bloomberg’s report, a senior official said Musk “If the state allows it, we will activate it.for the “offer”Thank you for the Starlink suggestion. Turksat has sufficient satellite capacity” said.