The telecommunications sector has seen major structural change toward liberalisation, in particular since 2004 when the fixed telecommunications network was opened to competition, previously the monopoly of the state-run operator Türk Telecom (TT), and an independent telecommunications regulatory body, the Telecommunications Authority (MT) established. New licences were granted to 16 suppliers of data transmission services in fixed telephony. Further steps towards liberalisation and breaking up of the monopoly were taken in 2005-06 by sale of Türk Telekom to Oger Telecom, a subsidiary of the Saudi group Oger, for US$ 6.55 billion. Vodafone repurchased Telsim, the second largest mobile phone operator, for US$ 4.55 billion. The Turkish telecommunications network continued to grow, currently ranked the 13th largest market in the world and fifth in Europe. Sales turnover for fixed telephony amounted to US$ 5 billion in 2004, expected to reach US$ 9 billion in 2010. In practice however, Türk Telekom has a quasi-total monopoly of the market, with 19 million subscribers.

With nearly 40.4 million subscribers in July 2005 and a penetration rate of 58 percent, the mobile phone market is growing faster than fixed telephony and Turkey in this regard is an Eldorado for mobile operators. TT is also present in the sector through its subsidiary company Turkcell (28.7 million subscribers as of March 31, 2006), followed by Telsim (8 million subscribers) repurchased by Vodafone, and Aria (4 million subscribers), in which Telecom Italia holds a 49 percent share.

Turkcell provides high quality wireless telephony services throughout the country, covering 100 percent of cities with more than 10,000 inhabitants. Turkcell is quoted on the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange). It also provides international cellular services through Fintur in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Moldavia, which had nearly 6.4 million subscribers at the beginning of 2006 for the third consecutive year. Turkcell was classified 14th among the 100 most powerful information technology companies by Business Week Tech magazine.

There are 24 satellite platform operators. Internet use is also developing very quickly, in particular since introduction of cable networks and broadband services such as ADSL in 2001, growing from 6 million users in 2003 to 10 million in 2005, with a penetration rate of 13.9 per cent. Turkish Telecom has decided to invest nearly US$ 800 million over the next five years to improve services. Turk Telecom’s cable television services were transferred to Turksat A.S. (Turksat), the public company in charge of satellite services, which has exclusive rights in this sector.

The major innovations planned for 2006 relate to adoption of a law on electronic trade and electronic signature. Turkey must still align its legislation to European standards with regard to electronic trade and services with conditional access. Similarly, cable telephony and wireless fixed telephony (broadband Fixed Wireless Access) were authorised to broaden competition in telecommunications infrastructure. Local loop unbundling, which will facilitate competition, was legally introduced on July 1, 2005. Opportunities exist in added value services such as Push to Talk (chat), 3G telephony and other new cellular technologies like MMS (Multi-media Messaging Service) and MVS (Mobile Video Streaming).

Useful sites:
- Telecommunications Authority: www.tk.gov.tr
- The 2006 Telecommunication Plan is available online at: http://www.tk.gov.tr/Yayin/Is_Planlari/tk_2006.pdf
- Turk Telekom website: www.turktelekom.com.tr
- Turkcell website: www.turkcell.com.tr
- Telsim website: www.telsim.com.tr