Turkcell Superonline
Turkcell Superonline is a Turkcell subsidiary that provides various telecommunications services, primarily fibre internet, over its own infrastructure.[1] Superonline is offering fibre broadband in 28 cities.[2] Superonline has been recognized as the "Fastest Growing ICT Company for the last 3 years" according to ICT500/Turkey listings.[3]
| Basic information | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2004 |
| Legal structure | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Official website | https://superonline.net |
As of Q1 2019, Turkcell has 41.6% of all mobile phone users in Turkey.[4] In October 2020, TVF Bilgi Teknolojileri Iletisim Hizmetleri Yatirim Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. a subsidiary of Turkey Wealth Fund, the wealth fund of the Republic of Turkey, acquired control of 26.2% of Turkcell.[5]
Consumer-impact summary
User freedom faces substantial restrictions as Turkey implements comprehensive internet censorship policies that affect all ISPs including Superonline, with the government's Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) collecting user data hourly including location data, browsing history, and messaging communications.[6] According to Freedom House's comprehensive assessment, Turkey's internet status remains classified as "Not Free" with extensive government control over digital communications and widespread social media blocking affecting service providers like Superonline.[7]
User privacy concerns are exacerbated by Superonline's extensive data collection practices, processing personally identifiable information, contact data, subscription details, network traffic, location data, payment information, and usage patterns, operating within Turkey's restrictive legal framework that has been documented by Freedom House as increasingly authoritarian.[8] Regarding market control, Superonline operates as the largest alternative ISP with approximately 15% of the broadband market share in 2021, positioning itself as the leading challenger to dominant player Türk Telekom which holds 65.3% market share.[9]
Incidents
Blue Coat Incident (2013)
There are allegations and discussions that Superonline uses Blue Coat products for censorship. Products manufactured by Blue Coat Systems are known as "dual-use" technologies that can be used to defend corporate networks, as well as by governments to censor the internet and monitor public internet traffic. These devices can see some encrypted traffic, block websites or record website traffic.[10]
In 2011, a hacktivist group called Telecomix claimed that Syria was using Blue Coat Systems products to censor the internet and these allegations were investigated by the US government. Citizen Lab's research has also provided evidence of Blue Coat devices being used for censorship and surveillance in countries like Turkey and Syria.[11]
Blue Coat is acquired by Symantec. In 2017, Symantec acquired LifeLock, and renamed itself to NortonLifeLock in 2019. On July 20, 2021, Norton LifeLock released Norton Crypto, which would've mined Ethereum in the background in exchange for periodic payments. This drew criticism from users, as this was installed automatically, and many users reported having diffuculty uninstalling the program. In August 2021, NortonLifelock agreed to merge with the company Avast. After completing its merger with Avast in September 2022, the company adopted the name Gen Digital. In 2025 its portfolio includes Norton, Avast, LifeLock, Avira, AVG and CCleaner.
Fair Usage Terms Incident (2012-2019)
Turkcell Superonline started to implement the so-called "Fair Usage Terms" in February 2012. Accordingly, in the data plans called "UNLIMITED", users were assigned a data download quota of 50GB in a one-month period. Users who exceed this quota will have their connection speed reduced to 1 Mbps. There was also a 10GB quota for uploading data. Even if a user does not exceed the 50GB data download quota, if they exceed the 10GB data sending quota, their connection speed was reduced to 10% of the data plans bandwidth. This practice of Superonline has received a huge reaction from users. However, Consumer Problems Arbitration Committees found Superonline's practice to be illegal and ruled in favor of the complaining consumers. This practice was terminated by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority on December 31, 2019.[12] Superonline also has an ongoing practice of reducing the connection speed to 1 Mbps and charging a re-activation fee for users who are late in paying their invoices.[13]
Injecting ads into websites (2017)
Superonline has been criticized for injecting various advertisements into its customers' web connections while they browse the internet, thereby forcing them to watch the advertisements. Requests for clarification to the company went unanswered. This incident was described as the first evidence of traffic monitoring and manipulation through deep packet inspection in Turkey.[14][15] This problem has since been fixed and the development of HTTPS technology has made it very difficult for this to happen again.[16]
Applying Censorship during Earthquake Incident (2023)
On February 6, 2023, the company was criticized for internet outages at critical moments during the massive earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş, Turkey. Immediately after the earthquake disaster, the collapse of the internet infrastructure, which was critical for search and rescue operations and coordination, left both citizens and government agencies in a difficult situation. In the aftermath, Superonline was severely criticized for its lack of infrastructure resilience and emergency preparedness.
The incident occurred within the context of Turkey's three-month state of emergency enacted in 11 provinces following the February 2023 earthquakes, which allowed the government to limit or suspend basic freedoms including telecommunications access.[17] There has also been controversy over the company's compliance with social media bans in Turkey during the earthquake, implemented under emergency powers that allowed authorities to take measures to prevent the circulation of information deemed false.[18] The biggest criticism has been the restriction of communication opportunities for people trapped under the remains of the earthquake and putting lives at risk. Internet freedom advocates have criticized Superonline's quick implementation of these bans, especially when access restrictions are imposed on social media platforms which helped find the trapped people.[19]
Controversies
Removing Discounts for Who Disable Data Collection
If user decides to reject the data collection practices in the Turkcell mobile app, then Turkcell removes the ability to see time limited offers which often include discounts to their services. If user accepts data collection after rejecting it beforehand Turkcell rewards the user with free mobile data usage that can be used for 1 month. Rejecting the data collection again results in removal of the free data usage. Users who agree to data collection first does not receive any rewards because they already accepted.
PPPoE/WAN Password Restrictions
Turkcell Superonline does not disclose the PPPoE/WAN username and password of its users. This restricts the freedom of users to use their own modems instead of the modems rented to them by Superonline. Although some users try to obtain this password through various methods, it is reported to be very difficult or impossible to obtain, especially for some modem models (e.g. HG255s). It is stated by users that even if the PPPoE username and password are known, the internet service provider (ISP) must register the MAC address of the new modem in its system, otherwise the modem cannot be used. This can be bypassed by cloning rented modems MAC addresses.[20]
Disabling Root Accounts and Firmware Restrictions
Turkcell Superonline's decision to restrict or completely disable access to the root account on the modems it rents to its users has sparked controversy among users. Superonline does not allow the use of third party modems. The firmware of the modems provided by Superonline is often customized and restricted, preventing users from gaining root access via web interface, telnet or ssh. One of the main reasons for this is that modem firmware updates and management are centralized by Superonline. It is argued that this centralized management may become more difficult if users have root access. While some users have stated that they need root access to configure their modem's settings in more detail (for example QoS and Easy Setup features are removed from modem interface), to install alternative firmware (like OpenWRT or Asus Merlin Firmware), or to enable/disable certain features, they have encountered this restriction by Superonline. In particular, some modem models are reported to disable features such as backups and manual updates via files in order to make it more difficult to obtain the root password. Some modem models have also been reported to disable the ability to change the main DNS server.[21]
Censorship Using Deep Packet Inspection
Superonline is one of the most active utilizers of deep packet inspection (DPI) technology among internet service providers in Turkey, operating within a regulatory environment that Freedom House describes as systematically restricting online freedoms.[22] With this technology, Superonline applies content-based censorship by analyzing users' internet traffic in detail, implementing policies that align with Turkey's broader approach to internet control documented by Freedom House as part of the country's "Not Free" internet status.[23]
Unlike traditional packet inspection, DPI technology also scans the content of data packets and provides the ability to detect and block VPN protocols. According to user reports, Superonline has one of the most strictly censored internet service in Turkey, and in the past has taken measures strict enough to completely block VPN protocols such as WireGuard. It also blocks or throttles popular VPN services and their websites such as Cloudflare Warp (connection itself), ProtonVPN (throttles the website, especially protonvpn.com domain), Surfshark (throttles the website, up-to-date info required for connection), Psiphon (connection itself), NordVPN (throttles the website, up-to-date info required for connection), IPVanish/SpeedtestVPN (throttles the website and the connection itself) and constantly tightens its DPI-based scanning systems. There is also allegations that Superonline using DNS poisoning to block certain websites. They were blocking some third party DNS services in the past.
| Website | Description | Estimated monthly active users | Block start date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smashwords | E-book publishing platform | ~1 000 000 | 2025-02-05 |
| Bento | German culture and lifestyle news site | ~200 000 | 2024-12-18 |
| Tango | Video calling and social networking app | ~50 000 000 | 2024-12-12 |
| IMVU | 3D avatar–based virtual chat and gaming platform | ~10 000 000 | 2024-10-03 |
| Discord | Voice, video, and text chat application | ~200 000 000 | 2024-09-10 |
| Roblox | Online platform for user-created games | ~230 000 000 | 2024-07-29 |
| Wattpad | Social reading network for user-written stories | ~90 000 000 | 2024-06-02 |
| talkSPORT | Sports-focused online radio channel | ~5 000 000 | 2024-04-22 |
| laut.fm | Personalized internet radio service | ~1 000 000 | 2023-12-28 |
| OnlyFans | Subscription-based content creator platform | ~120 000 000 | 2023-06-29 |
| Beacons | Content and payment toolkit for creators | ~500 000 | 2022-05-01 |
| iHeart | US-based radio and podcast network | ~110 000 000 | 2022-05-01 |
| National Film Board of Canada | Canada’s national film production and distribution agency | ~3 000 000 | 2022-05-01 |
| DW | Germany’s international broadcaster (Deutsche Welle) | ~60 000 000 | 2022-01-21 |
| VOA Turkish | Voice of America Turkish service | ~10 000 000 | 2022-01-21 |
| 4chan | Anonymous imageboard site | ~20 000 000 | 2021-11-25 |
| Radio Garden | Platform for listening to global radio stations via map | ~1 500 000 | 2021-07-30 |
| Issuu | Digital magazine and catalog publishing service | ~50 000 000 | 2020-12-07 |
| Charlie Hebdo | French satirical magazine | ~2 000 000 | 2020-10-10 |
| Mezopotamya Ajansı | Regional news and analysis agency | ~100 000 | 2018-10-29 |
| TuneIn | Internet radio and podcast app | ~75 000 000 | 2018-01-21 |
| WikiLeaks | Platform for leaking and publishing confidential documents | ~500 000 | 2016-07-29 |
| Kızıl Bayrak | Left-leaning daily newspaper | ~20 000 | 2015-07-23 |
| Umut Gazetesi | Local and community-focused news newspaper | ~15 000 | 2015-07-01 |
| ETHA | Etkin News Agency | ~10 000 | 2014-06-27 |
| Grindr | Social and dating app for LGBTQIA+ individuals | ~12 000 000 | 2013-07-02 |
| PasteBin | Text and code sharing service | ~25 000 000 | 2012-06-12 |
| AVN | Adult entertainment industry news portal | ~1 000 000 | 2011-04-27 |
| Playboy | Adult lifestyle and culture magazine | ~3 000 000 | 2009-10-27 |
| Shoutcast | Internet radio streaming protocol and directory | ~500 000 | 2007-11-12 |
| Tagged | Social discovery and networking site | ~5 000 000 | 2007-08-04 |
| Site | Date(s) | Reason for Blocking | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube | 6 March 2007; 17 January 2008; 13 March 2008; 3 November 2010; 27 March 2014; 6 April 2015 | Blasphemy against Atatürk and Turkish nation; videos of Deniz Baykal; recordings of FM Davutoğlu; media coverage of Savcı Mehmet Selim Kiraz's murder | Blocks lifted after content removal. |
| Wikipedia | 29 April 2017 – January 2020 | Content allegedly showing Turkey's collaboration with terrorist organizations | Wikimedia objections; #WeMissTurkey campaign; access restored in 2020. |
| Ekşi Sözlük | February 2023 | "Information pollution" related to Kahramanmaraş earthquakes | Previous intermittent blocks. |
| Twitter (X) | 20 March 2014; 6 April 2015 | Alleged recordings of FM Davutoğlu and MIT Undersecretary; media coverage of Savcı Kiraz's murder | Briefly unblocked on 3 April 2014 by Constitutional Court; access restored after content removal. |
| Last.fm & MySpace | Around 2010 | Copyright infringement | Objections from independent musicians; currently accessible. |
| Imgur | 2015 – February 2020 | Sharing of Savcı Kiraz's images | Access restored in February 2020. |
| Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, GitHub | 2016 | Minister Berat Albayrak's emails | |
| WordPress | 2016 | Adnan Oktar-related content | |
| Blogger / Blogspot | 2016 | Unauthorized streaming of football matches | |
| Ateizm Derneği (Translation: Ateism Society) | March 2015 | Public denigration of people's beliefs | |
| 2024 | Content restrictions (various reasons) | ||
| Others (~574,000 domains) | 2021 | Various legal decisions | Total number of blocked domains |
Information About Blocking of VPNs
| Name Of The VPN | Website Throttled/Blocked | Connection Status | Banned in Government Departments, Education Institutions and Student Dorms | ISP Responsibility to Prevent Connection | Additional Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IVPN | No | Unknown | Blocked (Protocol Ban) | ||
| MullvadVPN | No (Yes before the launch of Mullvad Browser) | Not Blocked (Info not up-to-date) | - Blocked (Protocol Ban)
- Other Mullvad products are blocked too. - Mullvad Browser can not access the internet because it is Firefox based and Firefox does not trust CA certificates that are used to monitor connections. - MullvadDNS is inaccessible despite the additional notes. |
MullvadDNS was inaccessible but it has been fixed. | |
| ProtonVPN | Yes (Only protonvpn.com domain) | Not Blocked | - All Proton related domains are throttled (including proton.me unlike residental connections).
- VPN protocols are banned. |
Legally Required | - VPN config files should be downloaded from proton.me domain.
- Purchasing with Turkish Lira is supported. - The price is 10 TRY/month (25 cents by average) for Turkish users. |
| Windscribe | No | Not Blocked | - Trying to establish a connection results in infinite loop.
- Ports except HTTPS and DNS are blocked which is necessary for VPN connection. - Browser extension works if you bypass Deep Packet Inspection on device level. Most methods for bypassing does not work (including GoodbyeDPI). |
They sometimes give free gift codes when big events are happening. | |
| AirVPN | No | Unknown | Blocked (Protocol Ban) | ||
| AzireVPN | No | Unknown | Blocked (Protocol Ban) | ||
| Surfshark | Yes | Maybe (Some users reported issues) | Blocked (Protocol Ban) | Legally Required | |
| NordVPN | Yes | Not Blocked (Info not up-to-date) | Blocked (Protocol Ban) | Legally Required | Saily e-sim service (by NordVPN) is blocked (Both cell tower level and internet level). |
| VyprVPN | No | Unknown | Blocked (Protocol Ban) | Legally Required | |
| PIA | Probably (PR_CONNECT_RESET_ERROR) | Unknown | Blocked (Protocol Ban) | Legally Required | |
| AdGuardVPN | Sometimes (Website is sometimes broken) | Not Blocked | - Blocked (Protocol Ban)
- Browser extension may work if you bypass Deep Packet Inspection on device level. Most methods for bypassing does not work (including GoodbyeDPI). - Adguard filter lists are blocked. - Other Adguard products are blocked too. |
||
| TorGuard | No | Unknown | Blocked (Protocol Ban) | ||
| CyberGhost | Yes | Unknown | Blocked (Protocol Ban) | Legally Required | |
| ExpressVPN | Yes | Not Blocked (Info not up-to-date) | Blocked (Protocol Ban) | Legally Required | |
| IPVanish | Yes | Blocked | Blocked | Legally Required | Speedtest app uses IPVanish for their VPN service and it is blocked too. |
| TunnelBear | Yes | Not Blocked (Info not up-to-date) | Blocked (Protocol Ban) | Legally Required | |
| PureVPN | Yes | Unknown | Blocked (Protocol Ban) | Legally Required | |
| Ivacy | No | Unknown | Blocked (Protocol Ban) | ||
| HideMeVPN | No | Unknown | Blocked (Protocol Ban) | Legally Required | |
| ShockVPN | No | Unknown | Blocked (Protocol Ban) | ||
| NymVPN | No | Unknown | Unknown | ||
| URNetwork | No | Not Blocked | Unknown | ||
| Opera Built-in Proxy | No (Because the domain is for Opera Browser) | Not Blocked | Blocked (IP banned because it was a pretty popular method) | ||
| MozillaVPN | No (Because the domain is mozilla.org) | Unknown | - Blocked (Protocol Ban)
- Trying Firefox's built-in version fails because Firefox does not trust CA certificates that is necessary for MITM-ing users. - Firefox based browsers can not connect to any website even without bypassing tools. |
Purchasing with Turkish Lira is supported. | |
| BraveVPN | No (Because the domain is for Brave Browser) | Unknown | - VPN feature does not show up in Turkiye.
- Brave Browser's TOR feature does not work. - Brave Search does not work. - Brave Leo (AI assistant) does not work. |
VPN feature does not show up in Turkiye. | |
| AmneziaVPN | No | Not Blocked | Blocked (Protocol Ban) | They give Turkish users free bandwidth. | |
| Psiphon | No | Not Blocked (Info not up-to-date) | Blocked (Closely monitored) | Legally Required | DW gives free Psiphon access to people in Turkiye with this link. |
| Lantern | No | Unknown | Unknown | ||
| Mysterium | No | Unknown | Unknown | ||
| VPNBook | No | Blocked | Blocked | ||
| MegaVPN | No (Because the domain is for Mega services) | Unknown | - Blocked (Protocol Ban)
- Other MEGA services are blocked too. |
||
| KasperskyVPN | No (Because the domain is for Kaspersky Antivirus) | Not Blocked (Info not up-to-date) | Blocked (Protocol Ban) | Purchasing with Turkish Lira is supported. | |
| TouchVPN | No | Not Blocked | Blocked | Legally Required | |
| CloudFlare Warp | No (Because the domain is for CloudFlare DNS and other services) | Blocked | Blocked and Sometimes Blocks Cloudflare DNS Too | Legally Required | |
| Hotspot Shield | Unknown | Unknown | Blocked (Closely monitored) | Legally Required |
References
- ↑ Turkcell Superonline Company Brief
- ↑ Turkcell Boosts Streaming Experience with Qwilt's Edge Cloud
- ↑ Turkcell Superonline - Cloudscene Profile
- ↑ Turkcell - Wikipedia
- ↑ Türkiye Wealth Fund Agrees to Acquire Control of Turkcell
- ↑ "Turkey: Freedom on the Net 2023". Freedom House. Freedom House. 10 October 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
- ↑ "Turkey Overview". Freedom House. Freedom House. 31 March 2025. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
- ↑ "Turkey: Freedom in the World 2023". Freedom House. Freedom House. 4 November 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
- ↑ BTK Market Share Statistics 2021 Q4
- ↑ Planet Blue Coat: Mapping Global Censorship and Surveillance Tools
- ↑ Blue Coat: Concern for Criminal Penalties, Not Human Rights
- ↑ "Wikipedia - Turkcell Superonline".
- ↑ Cancelling Your Turkcell Superonline Subscription
- ↑ Gözütok, Ahmet. "Turkcell Superonline kullanıcılarını reklam izlemeye mi zorluyor?". donanimhaber.com. Archived from the original on 19 June 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
- ↑ Yagiz (25 September 2016). "İddia: Superonline kullanıcılarına izinsiz reklam gösteriyor". medium.com. Archived from the original on 19 June 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
- ↑ Web Hacking Incident Database
- ↑ "Turkey: Freedom on the Net 2023". Freedom House. Freedom House. 10 October 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
- ↑ "Turkey: Freedom on the Net 2023". Freedom House. Freedom House. 10 October 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
- ↑ "Turkey: Freedom on the Net 2024". Freedom House. Freedom House. 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
- ↑ OpenWrt Wiki - ISP Configurations
- ↑ Router Misadventures: Dumping Superonline's ISP Fiber Router
- ↑ "Turkey: Freedom on the Net 2023". Freedom House. Freedom House. 10 October 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
- ↑ "Turkey Overview". Freedom House. Freedom House. 31 March 2025. Retrieved 3 June 2025.