Telecoms & IT
From The Report: Turkey 2012
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Having broken the monopoly of the Turkish Post Telegraph and Telephone Company (PTT) and with the privatisation of Turk Telekom, the prospects for telecoms in Turkey was radically altered. Rapid growth in internet use and the steady uptake of data-capable mobile phones has resulted in a convergence of telephony and internet services that is stressing telecoms infrastructure. However, firms are responding with the installation of fibre-optic lines to boost speed, while new offerings of apps and technologies are also a front for heavy competition. The government’s support offers technoparks incentives, including tax and duty exemptions, aid in construction and rent subsidies, in order to attract increased domestic and foreign investment. With sounder technology and infrastructure, more and more public services are being transported to the internet, and the emergence of a significant web culture is likewise driving new avenues for profit.

This chapter has interviews with Gökhan Bozkurt, the CEO of TurkTelekom; and Süreyya Ciliv, the General Manager of Turkcell.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Staying in touch: The growth of the mobile sector and internet use are driving competition and innovation among providers
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As in many other countries, telecommunications in Turkey was originally a component of a larger state monopoly Post, Telegraph and Telephone (PTT). On April 24, 1995, the government split PTT, giving its postal and telegraph services to the General Directorate of Posts and its telecommunications responsibilities to a newly created state company, Türk Telekom. SECTOR DEVELOPMENT: The company maintained a monopoly until the government altered the laws governing the sector in the midst of the…

Analysis

Come together: Sector players seek to expand their reach into different segments of the market
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While incumbent operators in other European countries have become market leaders in both mobile and fixed segments, the Turkish example has been defined by large operators who started out strong in either the mobile or the fixed segment – but not both. Türk Telekom, the incumbent fixed-line operator, dominates the market with the copper infrastructure that inherited from its days as a public entity. Turkcell and Vodafone, on the other hand, have become the two largest mobile operators but…

Interview

OBG talks to K. Gökhan Bozkurt, CEO, Türk Telekom
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Interview: K. Gökhan Bozkurt How much new cable is being installed to extend the fibre-optic network nationwide, and what is the timeline for the project? K GOKHAN BOZKURT: Our aim is to reach every corner of the country and provide all citizens with access to the fibre-optic network. With this vision in mind, we invest in all of Turkey’s 81 cities. We constantly renew our infrastructure, both in big cities and in small towns, to provide access for more customers to high-quality, high-speed…

Interview

OBG talks to Süreyya Ciliv, General Manager, Turkcell
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Interview: Süreyya Ciliv What has Turkcell done to adapt to the intensified price competition in the Turkish market? SUREYYA CİLİV: The Turkish market is quite competitive, particularly since the implementation of mobile number portability (MNP) in late 2008 and the introduction of flat-rate offers in early 2009. Since then, usage minutes have risen significantly, and we have seen average prices fall. We reversed the contraction of voice services revenues, which comprise over 80% of traffic,…

Overview

Technological upgrade: A growing population of web users is driving demand for faster connections, newer hardware and smarter shopping options
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In response to a number of factors, including a growing youth demographic and a rising interest in technology, Turkey’s population of high-speed internet users has ballooned in the previous decade. The country had nearly 30m total internet users in 2010, the 16th-highest overall internet population in the world, according to the World Bank’s world development indicators. Between 2002 and 2010, the country’s internet user count rose from 11.4 to 39.8 users per 100 people. Although Turkey’s…

Analysis

Need for speed: Investments by operators are leading to faster internet connections
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The Turkish broadband market has seen massive growth in the past decade. Between 2003 and the third quarter of 2011, the number of subscriptions rose from 18,600 to more than 12.7m, according to the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (ICTA). The subscribers are divided among various fixed and mobile services, the most popular being ADSL (7m), mobile internet (5m) and cable (450,000). As for the speeds of these connections, by the third quarter of 2011, the majority of Turkey’s…