A public use provider is any natural or legal person who gives individuals the means to use the internet, at a certain place and for a certain period of time. The definition makes no distinction between a customer, a guest, a student or an employee; whatever setting in your business provides internet access falls within this scope, regardless of its size or purpose.
Official definition
Law No. 5651 gives the definition in Article 2/1-i as follows:
"Toplu kullanım sağlayıcı: Kişilere belli bir yerde ve belli bir süre internet ortamı kullanım olanağı sağlayanı,"
"Public use provider: A person who provides individuals with the means to use the internet environment, at a certain place and for a certain period of time,"
Law No. 5651, Art. 2/1-i — unofficial translation — mevzuat.gov.tr
The Regulation on Internet Public Use Providers repeats the same definition for practical application, in slightly more detail:
"İnternet toplu kullanım sağlayıcı: Kişilere belli bir yerde ve belli bir süre internet ortamı kullanım olanağı sağlayan gerçek ve tüzel kişileri,"
"Internet public use provider: Natural and legal persons who provide individuals with the means to use the internet environment, at a certain place and for a certain period of time,"
Regulation on Internet Public Use Providers, Art. 3/1-g — unofficial translation — mevzuat.gov.tr
The definition contains three elements: a place ("a certain place"), a duration ("a certain period of time"), and a means ("the means to use the internet environment"). When all three occur together, your business acquires the status of a public use provider — no application, registration or notification is required; the status arises directly from the activity itself.
Why there's no customer/employee distinction
There is one key word in the definition: "individuals." The Law does not care whether that person is your customer, your guest, your student, your patient or your employee. This clears up a misunderstanding that comes up often in practice: the idea that "we only give internet to staff, not customers, so we're out of scope" is not legally correct. An office that gives its staff internet access is covered by the same definition as a hotel that gives its guests Wi-Fi.
As a result, this law-based obligation takes a different role in every sector: the guest and the front-desk staff at a hotel, the customer and the cashier at a cafe, the shift worker and the subcontractor supervisor at a factory, the student and the teacher on duty at a school. The name of the role changes, but the question stays the same: which internal IP, which device, and which person was connected at that moment?
Commercial vs. non-commercial providers
The Law and the Regulation split public use providers into two groups. Understanding this distinction correctly matters because it determines where a fine applies and where only the record-keeping obligation applies. The Regulation defines a "commercial-purpose" provider as follows:
"Ticari amaçla internet toplu kullanım sağlayıcı: İnternet salonu ve benzeri umuma açık yerlerde belirli bir ücret karşılığı internet toplu kullanım sağlayıcılığı hizmeti veren veya bununla beraber bilgisayarlarda bilgi ve beceri artırıcı veya zeka geliştirici nitelikteki oyunların oynatılmasına imkân sağlayan gerçek ve tüzel kişileri,"
"Commercial-purpose internet public use provider: Natural and legal persons who, in internet cafes and similar places open to the public, provide internet public use provider services for a certain fee, or who, in addition, enable the playing of games on computers that are of an educational or skill/intelligence-enhancing nature,"
Regulation on Internet Public Use Providers, Art. 3/1-l — unofficial translation — mevzuat.gov.tr
In short, "commercial purpose" is limited to "selling the internet itself for a fee": internet cafes and similar venues. A hotel, cafe, restaurant, office, factory or school that offers free Wi-Fi to its customers, guests or employees falls outside this definition and is considered a "non-commercial" public use provider. Provisions such as the operating permit, the static-IP notification, and the administrative fine under Art. 7/4 apply only to the commercial-purpose category; telling a hotel or cafe, on the basis of these provisions, that they "must obtain an operating permit" or will be "fined 15,000 TRY," is not correct.
This distinction also shows up in the oversight mechanism. Under Regulation Article 10, commercial-purpose internet public use providers are inspected for compliance with their obligations and conditions by an inspection commission formed within the local civil administration; law enforcement also carries out separate oversight for general public order and security. No such inspection-commission process is envisaged for a non-commercial hotel, office or factory; for these businesses, the real practical concern is that the access record be ready and verifiable when a request arrives.
Which businesses are covered
In practice, the most common examples of public use providers are:
- Hotels, guesthouses, holiday villages and other lodging facilities
- Cafes, restaurants and shopping malls
- Factories, warehouses and construction sites
- Schools, courses, tutoring centers and dormitories
- Hospitals and other healthcare institutions
- Municipalities and public institutions
- Gyms, hairdressers and beauty salons
- Coworking spaces and business centers
- Ordinary workplaces and offices (that only give internet to employees)
To see concrete, industry-specific applications, you can look at the hotels and hospitality, cafes and restaurants, factories and manufacturing, schools and education, hospitals and healthcare, municipalities and public sector, shopping malls and retail or workplaces and offices pages.
How it differs from an access provider
A public use provider is often confused with an access provider. The Law treats an access provider as a separate definition: "Access provider: any natural or legal person who provides its users with the means to access the internet environment" (Art. 2/1-e). This is usually the subscription provider that brings the internet into your business (your internet service provider), and it carries its own retention and notification obligations. You, on the other hand, become a public use provider the moment you share that line, under your own roof, with other people; the two statuses carry different obligations and are not interchangeable. In practice, for most businesses, the answer to "who gives me this line" points to the access provider, while the answer to "who do I share this line with" points to your own status as a public use provider.
What being covered requires
For every business carrying the status of public use provider, Law Article 7/2 and Regulation Article 4 require using a content filtering system and recording access records electronically for two years. If you provide internet in a publicly accessible area, you also need to set up a system that identifies users via SMS or a similar method. You can find the full list of these obligations, and how each is met in izgate, in the Law No. 5651 Guide, and the retention period in the 5651 Log Retention Period guide.
Checklist
You can go through the questions below in order to quickly assess your own situation; every "yes" answer pulls you a little further into the definition.
- Does your business provide internet in any form (to a customer, guest, student or employee)? If so, you are a public use provider.
- Are you selling the internet itself for a fee (like an internet cafe)? If so, you have additional obligations (operating permit, static IP).
- If you have multiple locations, each one is its own, separate public use provider; centralizing record collection is recommended.
- Who keeps your access records, where are they stored, and who can access them?
Frequently asked questions
I only give internet to my employees — am I considered a public use provider?
Yes. The legal definition says "individuals," and makes no distinction between a customer and an employee. An office that gives its employees internet access is a public use provider too.
Is a cafe that offers free Wi-Fi considered "commercial purpose"?
No. The "commercial-purpose internet public use provider" definition covers internet cafes and similar venues where the internet itself is sold for a fee. A cafe offering free Wi-Fi to its customers falls outside this definition.
If I have multiple branches, is each one assessed separately?
Yes, each location is its own, individual public use point. In practice, centralizing record collection in a single panel provides practical benefits for oversight and reporting.
Do I need to apply for anything to become a public use provider?
No, the status arises directly from the activity; no separate application or notification is required. Only businesses in the "commercial-purpose" category are obliged to obtain an operating permit from the local civil authority.
This page is for information only; for the current text of the legislation, refer to the official source (mevzuat.gov.tr).
