Turkish firms unite powers for fiber network, Türk Telekom not yet in team

Speaking at a meeting dedicated to the announcement of the plans, TELKODER chairman Yusuf Ata Arıak said problems in areas concerning infrastructure resulting from insufficiency, instability and lack of competition have limited growth and are holding Turkey’s telecommunication sector back.

“We’ve been working on projects concerning the advancement of infrastructure and fiber optic for a long time,” Arıak said, adding that the general managers of Turkcell and Vodafone initiated the formation of a joint fiber optic infrastructure company after the launch of the 4.5G project. 

“This led to a string of meetings and plans. I took part in the project and we have come a long way. We then invited Türk Telekom to join. But unfortunately it can be seen that it is not possible for Türk Telekom to take part in the project at this time. Türksat, a company that holds valuable fiber optic infrastructure, did join,” he said. 

Arıak said the project has brought around 55 to 60 percent of the telecommunication industry together.

“Our collective work will serve two tangible conclusions. The first is that the unused capacity that each company has used separately will be used collectively. The second is that investments will be distributed and used accordingly, which will take a load off of each participant in the project and will enable the project to be realized,” he added.

“We must provide Turkey with the fastest and cheapest access to information if we wish to see the country’s goals fulfilled by 2023,” said Kaan Terzioğlu, the general manager of Turkcell. 

“We believe that the collective fiber optic infrastructure company will speed up access to information and enable it to be secured and easily processed. It will also provide all service providers with productivity-focused competition. We aim to keep the company open to any and all investors,” Terzioğlu added.

The CEO of Vodafone, Gökhan Öğüt, said the launch of the project was significant “not just for our sector but for Turkey as a whole.” 

“The infrastructure for this gigabyte community will also be provided with Internet access at rates of 1GB and higher for people and institutions. For this, we have come together to share our plans and passion in forming such an infrastructure company as fast as possible,” Öğüt said. 

“We have prioritized the formation of this infrastructure. We are willing to provide any and all support in this process to prevent the obstacles that might be on the path to forming this company and for its feasibility to be processed by crossbench experts all over the world,” he added. 

The general manager of Türksat, Cenk Şen, said the entire sector and his state-run company were “targeted” during the failed military coup attempt on July 15. 

“But we will continue our support as a shareholder in this collective project to be able to use this infrastructure more efficiently,” said Şen, drawing attention to the fact that Türksat is also the operator and owner of the cable infrastructure in Turkey.

According to the information provided, any work done in the framework of the formation of the collective infrastructure company will be done under the regulations, permits and authorizations of the Competition Law and the Electronic Communication Law.