The highest level telecom authority in Turkey is the Ministry of Transportation. Two directorate generals of Ministry of Transportation, namely, Directorate General of Communications and Directorate General of Wireless Communication, are responsible for communication issues.

Turk Telekom, which is currently a state monopoly, owns and operates telecommunications infrastructures including conventional lines, satellites, submarine lines, cable TV and the Internet backbone. Until recently, Turk Telekom had the right to license private or public organisations or establish joint operations with private or public organisations on a revenue share basis to use this infrastructure. A new telecom law has been enacted recently changing the present telecom regulatory framework significantly. The law aims privatising Turk Telekom by the end of year 2003 and establishing a more liberal telecom market gradually in Turkey.

GSM operation is currently licensed to two private companies, Turkcell and Telsim. Two more licenses will be granted in the first half of year 2000. Turk Telekom holds the right of establishing its own GSM network.

Broadcast and cable TV licensing is under the control of Higher Council of Radio and Television (RTUK).

The present Internet backbone TTNet is owned by Turk Telekom. Both Turk Telekom and private ISPs provide Internet services over this backbone. There is an alternative network, called ULAKNET, for academic and research institutions operated by a unit of TUBITAK. The infrastructure of ULAKNET also belongs to Turk Telekom.

Turk Telekom has licensed VSAT services to private companies on a revenue sharing basis.

Satellite communication is provided by Turk and by international communications companies. Telekom Currently Turk Telekom owns and operates two satellites TURKSAT 1B and TURKSAT 1C.

Submarine communication lines are owned and operated by Turk Telekom.

Turk Telekom has made considerable progress in recent years in increasing the capacity and the quality of the telecommunications infrastructure.

The current telecom policy requires liberalisation of telecom services in the country. As mentioned above, a new telecommunication law has been enacted to partially liberalise Turk Telekom. Turkey declared to liberalise the basic telecom service market completely by the end of year 2005 as a member of World Trade Organisation WTO and the new law enacted requires Turk Telekom be partially privatised by the end of year 2003. The new law also requires establishing a competitive telecom market where the operators and the regulatory bodies are instituted separately. According to this law an independent regulatory authority is to be established.

• Ministry of Transportation is in charge of the telecommunication issues in general.

• Ministry of State is in charge of radio and television broadcasting.

Currently, Ministry of Transportation is the sole policy maker in telecommunications. The new telecom law enacted recently aims establishing an independent regulatory telecom authority.

Currently two directorates of Ministry of Transportation are the two highest level authorities in telecommmunications. Directorate General of Communications (HGM) is the regulatory authority in general in communications and Directorate General of Wireless Communications (TGM) is the regulator in wireless communications.

Higher Council of Radio and Television (RTUK) under the Ministry of State is the regulator in radio and TV broadcasting and in cable TV.

As they are part of the Ministry of Transportation, Directorate General of Communications and Directorate General of Wireless Communications are not independent bodies. As stated above, the new telecom law requires the establishment of an independent regulatory authority. Higher Council of Radio and Television, on the other hand is an independent body eventhough its members are appointed by the government.

Directorate General of Wireless Communications is currently the regulatory body for spectrum management.

DNS allocation is currently granted to a university (Middle East Technical University).

Although Turk Telekom holds the ownership of the cable TV infrastructure and the satellites, the Higher Council of Radio and Television is the authority to allocate radio and TV frequencies.

Competition Council (Rekabet Kurulu) is the office for the protection of economic competition. Although its members and its chairman are appointed by the government, it is an independent body. Other councils such as Capital Market Council (Sermaye Piyasasi Kurulu) and Banking Council (Bankalararası Kurul ) act as regulators in their domains.

• Internet Higher Council is an informal high level consultative body for the Ministry of Transportation. There is a possibility that Internet Higher Council is to be transformed into a formal consultative council.

• Kamunet (Public Networks Organisation) Higher Council is an advisory body for the Prime Minister’s Office.

• Information Technologies Group of the National Parliament (Grand National Assembly) is a group of parliamentarians acting as an informal consultative body in the parliament.

• Electronic Commerce Coordination Committee is another informal consultative body formed by the Undersecretary of Foreign Trade.

Turk Telekom is the historical telecommunications operator in Turkey. It is currently a state monopoly in owning and operating the telecommunications infrastructure including conventional lines, cable TV lines, satellites, submarine lines and the Internet backbone. It is currently 100% state owned. As stated above the new telecom law enacted recently requires that Turk Telekom be privatised by the end of year 2003.

GSM operation is currently licensed to two private GSM operators by Turk Telekom on a revenue sharing basis, Turkcell with 2/3 market share and Telsim with 1/3 market share. Two new licenses are to be awarded in the near future (the first half of year 2000). Turk Telekom holds the right to operate yet another GSM network.

Other than the Turk Telekom operated Internet backbone TTNet, an alternative network called ULAKNET is being operated by TUBITAK as a service to academic and research institutions. The infrastructure of ULAKNET is owned by Turk Telekom.

VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) and IBS (INTELSAT Business Services) services are provided by two joint ventures of Turk Telekom and private companies on a revenue sharing basis.

NMT mobile telephone system, the remote rural area satellite communication system and marine communication system are owned and operated by Turk Telekom.

Internet service provision is not currently subject to formal licensing.

Turkey became a member of International Telecommunications Union only recently (7.5.1993). Currently, ITU has reserved 6 orbits for Turkey. Currently 2 satellites are in use (TURKSAT 1B: 11.8.1994, 31.3 degrees east, and TURKSAT 1C: 10.7.1996, 42 degrees east). Turkey is a member of EUTELSAT (year:1985, share: 0.469814%), INTELSAT (year:1968, share: 1.643509%), and INMARSAT (year:1989, share: 0.26250%). Turk Telekom formed a joint venture company with Aerospatiale to launch, operate and market TURKSAT 2A (now called EURASIASAT). TURKSAT 2A is expected to become operational in a few years.

Turkey is a member of ETSI and ETNO.

Several submarine fiber optic cable systems are established between Turkey and other countries including ITUR between Turkey, Italy, Ukraine and Russia, KAFOS in the Black Sea area and TBL in the Balkans.

Private ISPs and some public institutions such as universities as well as Turk Telekom have agreements with international satellite communications for direct international access to Internet via satellite. Turk Telekom operates VSAT and IBS on a revenue sharing basis, licensed to international consortiums with local partners.

Turkey declared to liberalise the basic telecom service market completely by the end of year 2005 as a member of World Trade Organisation WTO. As stated above, the new telecom law requires privatisation of Turk Telekom by the end of year 2003.

Until very recently telecommunications sector used to be regulated according to the Telegraph and Telephone Law number 406 of 1924. This law established PTT as a monopoly as a public service provider for postal services and telegraph and telephone communications. In 1994, a new law was enacted (law number 4000), changing an article of this law, thus making it possible to split PTT into two organisations, one for posts (Post Administration) and one for telecommunications (Turk Telekom). Turk Telekom was established in 1994 and became operational in 1995 as the sole telecom operator, owning the whole telecommunications infrastructure including conventional telephone lines, satellite communications, cable TV lines, submarine lines and the Internet backbone.

This law gave Turk Telekom the right to licence private companies to provide services or to build infrastructure. GSM operation has been licensed to two private companies (1998) according to this law, Turkcell and Telsim.

Very recently a new law (law number 4161) has been enacted to liberalise the telecom market and to privatise Turk Telekom. According to this law, Turk Telekom is to be privatised in terms of the following shares and share owners: Turk Telekom 51%, Directorate General of Post Administration 10%, block sale and public offering 34%, employees and small investors 5%. Turkey declared to liberalise the basic telecom service market completely by the end of year 2005 as a member of World Trade Organisation WTO. The new law requires the telecom market be privatised by the end of year 2003. According to the new law the operators and the regulatory bodies are to be instituted separately to establish a competitive telecom market. An independent regulatory body is to be formed for this purpose. The new law clarifies roles of different types of telecom operators and service providers and eliminates some bureaucratic steps in licensing procedures.

The first Internet backbone Turnet was as established in 1996 by consortium of Turk Telekom, a university and a private company. The current backbone TTNet is established by Turk Telekom in 1999. As stated above, an alternative Internet backbone is operated by TUBITAK as a service to academic and research organisations. DNS allocation is currently granted to a university (Middle East Technical University). Internet service provision is not subject to formal licensing and there are currently over 80 ISPs in Turkey.

VSAT service is provided by two joint ventures of Turk Telekom and private companies.

Remote rural area satellite communication and marine communication are also provided by Turk Telekom.

State owned Turkish Radio and Television used to be the single radio and TV licence holder until late 1980s. Later the legislation made it possible for private companies to own and operate radio and TV stations. There has been a tremendous increase in the number of radio stations and TV channels since then. Higher Council of Radio and Television was established as a licensing and regulatory authority. A draft law is being prepared to deregulate radio and TV broadcasting to some extent.

A new law enacted in 1995 (law number 5846) to update the existing Intellectual Property Rights Law to include software related issues and to introduce new measures.

4.2 Present general legislation

As stated above a new telecom law enacted very recently makes significant changes in the present telecom regulation in Turkey. As this law introduces a transition period the present general regislation is discussed below first without considering this newly enacted law.

The law number 406 of 1924, which was modified by law 4000 enacted in 1994, gives monopoly to Turk Telekom on telecommunications infrastructure including conventional telephone lines, satellite communications, cable TV lines, submarine lines and the Internet backbone. The law gives Turk Telekom the right to build and operate telecommunications infrastructures of any sort, to establish joint ventures with national or international private companies on a revenue sharing basis and to authorise private companies to establish conventional, GSM, satellite and other communications operations.

Currently Turk Telekom operates the exiting conventional lines, the Internet backbone, cable TV infrastructure, TURKSAT 1B and TURKSAT 1C communications satellites and submarine communication lines. It also operates VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) and IBS (INTELSAT Business Services) on a revenue sharing basis. GSM operation is currently licensed to two private companies, Turkcell and Telsim.

The current telecommunication legislation allows Turk Telekom to authorise service providers to use the Internet infrastructure for Internet services. Nevertheless, Internet service provision is not subject to formal licensing. DNS allocation is currently managed by a university.

Cable TV infrastructure is owned by Turk Telekom. Public and private TV channels use this infrastructure for broadcasting. Frequency and channel allocation is under the control of Higher Council of Radio and Television RTUK according to law number 3984. A draft law is now under preparation to liberalise the current radio and TV broadcasting legislation in some aspects.

The current intellectual property rights law (law number 5846) includes software related issues and measures against IPR violations. A new law was enacted recently, changing an article of the Income Tax Law (Law number 193, date enacted 31.12.1960) to identify software as an intellectual property and to include it in income tax exemption.

As already mentioned (see paragraph 4.2 above), the newly enacted law (law number 4161) aims at liberalising the telecom market and privatising Turk Telekom. According to the new law the operators and the regulatory bodies are to be instituted separately to establish a competitive telecom market and an independent regulatory body is to be established.

4.3 Key legislative measures

Conventional voice telephony and data transmissions lines ownerships and operations are under the monopoly of Turk Telekom. The new telecom law enacted recently allows some additional services such as closed group voice telephony be provided.

Currently two private companies are licensed as GSM operator, Turkcell and Telsim. Two new licences are to be awarded in the year 2000. Turk Telekom holds the right of establishing its own GSM network.

Two joint ventures of Turk Telekom and private companies provide VSAT services. Currently there are 3 such licenses granted, to Comsat, to Satko and to Erenet.

Internet infrastructure ownership and operation rights belong to Turk Telekom. Turk Telekom has the right to license private companies for value added services. It also has right to establish new companies or consortia to license the construction and/or operation of the Internet infrastructure on a revenue share basis. The previous Internet backbone Turnet is an example of this. ISPs provide Internet services using the lines obtained from Turk Telekom. Currently Internet service provision is not subject to formal licensing. DNS allocation is currently licensed to a university (for historical reasons). Aside from the current Internet backbone TTNet, there exists an academic computing network called ULAKNET connecting universities and TUBITAK (Scientific and Research Council of Turkey). ULAKNET is operated by TUBITA K but the communication infrastructure is owned by Turk Telekom. There are over 80 ISPs in operation currently in the country and Internet service provision now attracts the leading industrial groups as a new business area.

Radio and TV licensing is under the control of Higher Council of Radio and Television. Currently TRT (State Radio and TV organisation) and many private radio and TV companies have national or local radio and TV licenses. A draft law is under preparation to liberalise radio and TV broadcasting to some extent.

Cable TV infrastructure is owned by Turk Telekom, but cable TV licensing right belongs to Higher Council of Radio and Television RTUK.

Turk Telekom is a member of ITU on behalf of Turkey and it holds the ownership of the orbits currently allocated to Turkey (currently 6 orbits). Turk Telekom owns two satellites currently (TURKSAT 1B and TURSAT 1 C). A third satellite, TURKSAT 2A (now called EURASIASAT), is to be launched, operated and marketed in the near future by a joint venture company of Turk Telekom and Aerospatiale. Aside from national and international IBS channels, TURKSAT 1B is used by TV channels including Kent TV, CTV, HBB, Global TV, KTV, Super Kanal, Best TV, MNG TV, Medya TV, Yavuz TV, Ozdil TV and ETV, and some radio channels. TURKSAT 1C is used for national IBS channels, VSAT communication, TV channels including TRT1, TRT2, TRT3, TRT4, TRT-Avrasya, Kanal D, ATV, Kanal 6, Cumhuriyet TV, Samanyolu TV, Euro D, Kanal 7, Show TV, Cine5 and many radio channels.

4.4.3 Universal Service

Voice telephony, mobile communications and data transmissions are available throughout the country.

Number of conventional lines per 100 inhabitants is 30.74 (November 1999) and number of public pay phones per 1000 inhabitants is 1.19 (end of 1998). Network digitisation ratio is currently 83% (end of 1998).

GSM coverage is relatively high for the country. Currently the whole country is covered except for some remote rural areas. Number of GSM lines per 100 inhabitants is 9.44 (November 1998) and it is expected to reach to 15 in a short time.

For remote rural areas, remote rural areas satellite communication system is available. NMT mobile telephone system is also available. Turk Telekom also provides sea (marine) communication.

ISPs are concentrated mostly in the major cities but Internet services are provided throughout the country by Turk Telekom through the current Internet backbone TTNet. Currently the number of domestic Internet users per 1000 inhabitants is 7.7 (November 1999) and the hostcount by DNS domains per 1000 inhabitants is 1.223 (November 1999).

TTNet is based on ATM switching and it provides ATM, FR, ADSL, LL access and also B-ISDN services. It provides 87 Mbps capacity for international incoming traffic and 113 Mbps capacity for international outgoing traffic. Capacity of the national backbone is 155 Mbps and the total number of access nodes is 140. It has 14250 dial up ports at 56 Kbps, 4830 ISDN-BRI ports at 64-128 Mbps, 2328 leased line ports at 64 Kbps-2 Mbps, 5202 frame relay ports at 64 Kbps-2 Mbps, 4290 ADSL ports at 640 Kbps, and 92 ATM ports at 2-155 Mbps. A new service offered by TTNet, which is called Dial Internet, makes Internet connection possible over conventional network PSTN. This service is aimed at rural areas and those areas where no ISP provides Internet service. It is expected that this service will increase widespread Internet use considerably.

The academic Internet network ULAKNET connects 91 universities and TUBITAK (total 92 ports). The backbone connects Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir with 34 Mbps ATM lines. An additional line of 34 Mbps connects ULAKNET center and OSYM (University Student Placement Center). ULAKNET provides 3 international connections, one in Istanbul (a Sprint connection to the U.S. with 4 Mbps inbound and 1 Mbps outbound capacity) and the other two in Ankara (a UUnet connection to the U.S. with 2 Mbps inbound and 2 Mbps outbound capacity and a Digex connection to the U.S. with 4 Mbps inbound and 1 Mbps outbound capacity). It is also connected to TURNET (the older Internet backbone of Turk Telekom) at Ankara and Izmir, each at 2 Mbps capacity.

Radio and TV broadcasting covers the whole country. State Radio and TV organisation TRT has three national TV channels, one regional and one international TV channel. There are many private national and local TV as well. Radio stations are very many both at national level and at local level. Number of TV sets per 100 inhabitants is 32.4 (end 1997). Cable TV is available currently in 20 major cities including 9 metropolitan areas Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Adana, Antalya, Gaziantep, Bursa, Konya, Kayseri, and 11 other cities Mersin-Tarsus, Izmit-Golcuk, Eskisehir, Karadeniz Eregli, Denizli, Balikesir, Samsun, Adapazari, Tekirdag-Cerkezkoy-Corlu, Erzurum, Yalova-Ciftlikkoy. Number of home cable TV subscribers per 100 inhabitants is 9.9 (early 1999). Cable TV network is currently being upgraded to increase existing channel capacity and to increase geographical area coverage. Number of TV channels available is 45 for the 9 metropolitan areas and 60 for the other 11 cities.

Telephony and Internet backbone access tariffs of Turk Telekom are subject to the approval of Directorate General of the Ministry of Transportation. The newly enacted telecom law authorises the telecom regulatory body for tariffs and other policy issues.

Tariffs for telephony are comparable with developed countries. Fixed cost of installation for main line for conventional telephone is approximately 23 Euros and monthly fixed cost of service for main line is approximately 3 Euros which includes a certain amount of communication as monthly credit. 90 seconds of local call at normal period is 0.03 Euros.

GSM communication rates are also at a slightly high level compared to international rates.

The government introduced some additional taxes on telecommunications to be effective only during the year 2000 to raise funds for the spendings related to the Marmara earthquake of August 1999.

For Cable TV, fixed cost of single line installation is 30 Euros and monthly fixed rate is 3.5 Euros.

Tariffs for the Internet backbone access used to be high for the previous backbone Turnet, but with the new backbone TTNet, tariffs are considerably lowered. The following rates are to be valid for TTNet: Dial Internet (conventional network reachable everywhere in the country): 1 Euro per hour of connection; 2 Mbps connection over ATM: 1000 Euros installation cost, 1000 Euros monthly rate; ISDN: 4.5 Euros installation cost, 20 Euros monthly rate; ADSL: 45 Euros installation cost, 45-70 Euros monthly rate; dial up connection: 4.5 Euros installation cost, 15 Euros monthly rate.

Internet access rates are still high compared to international rates.

With the entry of ISPs into the market, especially with those owned by the leading industrial groups, Internet service rates decreased considerably in recent months.

With the high network digitisation ratio (83% at the end of 1998) and with the available reasonably high capacity, quality of service is satisfactory for voice telephony and data communications.

GSM coverage is increasing. GSM capacity and quality of service is constantly increasing with the addition of new stations to meet increasing traffic due to increasing number subscription. In some exceptional cases such as during the Marmara earthquake in August 1999 the GSM networks become digested. New GSM licenses are to be given in the near future to increase the capacity to meet the increasing demand. WAP services are also started by some ISPs.

ISPs used to complain about the capacity of the backbone due to high demand. They also used to complain that they could not get the as may lines as they needed. With the new backbone TTNET these complaints are expected to diminish. Another problem is that some ISPs offer their services with insufficient line capacity, resulting in heavy traffic and slow response time.

TTNet provides Internet access throughout the country, including those locations where Internet services are not provided by private ISPs. TTNet provides a variety of access technologies including ATM, PSTN, ISDN, ADSL, FR, LL and X.25. ATM technology is superior in terms of quality of service as it provides CBR (Constant Bit Rate), VBR (Variable Bit Rate) and UBR (Unspecified Bit Rate). TTNet provides high performance, scaleability, advanced management and control, traffic management and end-to-end service quality. It provides an infrastructure for suitable for diverse Internet applications including existing services such as Mail, Web, News and Proxy, and new and emerging services and multimedia applications. TTNet backbone provides alternative connectivity for each connection in the backbone, thus providing continuous reliable network and service connectivity.

The academic Internet network ULAKNET provides additional connectivity for universities and research organisations. The capacity of ULAKNET needs to be increased continually to meet the increasing demand.

4.4.6 Interconnection

Turkey has a high national interconnectivity of telephony. In terms of international connectivity, both Turk Telekom and international communications companies provide international connectivity. GSM operators provide roaming service for international connection. NMT, Remote Rural Area Satellite Communication System, and Sea Communication System provide further connectivity.

Turkey is reasonably advanced in satellite communications, currently owning and operating 2 communication satellites TURKSAT 1B and TURKSAT 1C. These satellites are used for TV broadcasting, radio broadcasting, IBS, and VSAT services. A new satellite, TURKSAT 2A 8now called EURASIASAT), is to be launched in the near future.

VSAT services are currently provided by Comsat connecting to MCI, Satko connecting to Sprint and Erenet connecting to Digex.

Further connectivity is provided with submarine fiber optic lines between Turkey and Europe, Black Sea Countries and Russia and Balkan countries.

The current Internet (TTNet) topology connects Ankara, Istanbul ( 5 nodes: Atakoy, Tahtakale, Gayrettepe, Acibadem, Kadikoy), Izmir, Adana, Samsun, Bursa, Antalya, Kayseri with 155 Mbps backbone and other cities and Cyprus with 34 Kbps – 2 Mbps speed. It provides 87 Mbps capacity for international incoming traffic (USA-Istanbul 45 Mbps fiber optic cable, USA-Ankara 34 Mbps fiber optic cable, Europe-Istanbul 34 Mbps over TURKSAT) and 113 Mbps capacity for international outgoing traffic (USA-Istanbul 45 Mbps fiber optic cable, USA-Ankara 34 Mbps fiber optic cable, Europe-Istanbul 8 Mbps over TURKSAT). Capacity of the national backbone is 155 Mbps and the total number of access nodes is 140. It has 14250 dial up ports at 56 Kbps, 4830 ISDN-BRI ports at 64-128 Mbps, 2328 leased line ports at 64 Kbps-2 Mbps, 5202 frame relay ports at 64 Kbps-2 Mbps, 4290 ADSL ports at 640 Kbps, and 92 ATM ports at 2-155 Mbps. A new service offered by TTNet, which is called Dial Internet (access number 145), makes Internet connection possible over conventional network PSTN. This service is aimed at rural areas and those areas where no ISP provides Internet service. It is expected that this service will increase widespread Internet use considerably.

WAP services are started recently by some ISPs.

The academic Internet network ULAKNET connects 91 universities and TUBITAK (total 92 ports). The backbone connects Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir with 34 Mbps ATM lines. An additional line of 34 Mbps connects ULAKNET center and OSYM (University Student Placement Center). ULAKNET provides 3 international connections, a Sprint connection to the U.S. with 4+1 Mbps capacity, a Uunet connection with 2+2 Mbps capacity and a Digex connection with 4+1 Mbps capacity. It is also connected to TURNET (the older Internet backbone of Turk Telekom) at Ankara and Izmir, each at 2 Mbps capacity.

Radio and TV broadcasting covers the whole country. State Radio and TV organisation has four national TV channels, one regional TV channel and one international TV channel. There are many private national and local TV channels as well. Radio stations are very many both at national level and at local level. Number of TV sets per 100 inhabitants is 32.4 (end 1997). Cable TV is available currently in 20 major cities including 9 metropolitan areas Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Adana, Antalya, Gaziantep, Bursa, Konya, Kayseri, and 11 other cities Mersin-Tarsus, Izmit-Golcuk, Eskisehir, Karadeniz Eregli, Denizli, Balikesir, Samsun, Adapazari, Tekirdag-Cerkezkoy-Corlu, Erzurum, Yalova-Ciftlikkoy. Number of home cable TV subscribers per 100 inhabitants is 9.9 (early 1999). Cable TV network is currently being upgraded to increase existing channel capacity and to increase geographical area coverage. Number of TV channels available is 45 for the 9 metropolitan areas and 60 for the other 11 cities.

Intellectual Property Rights Law was revised in 1995 (law number 5846) to include software related issues, to allow the establishment of associations of intellectual property rights owners for the registration of intellectual property in musical, video, multimedia and software items, to introduce new measures against intellectual property rights violations by increasing in the existing penalties and by introducing new penalties.

An article of the Income Tax Law (Law number 193) was changed recently to include software in income tax exemption.

Privacy is under the protection of general civil law. Data protection is under the protection of civil law and commerce law. Consumer protection is under a special law for consumer protection. Official consumer complaint offices are established under the Ministry of Industry and Trade according to this law, providing good consumer protection with no or minimal cost. There are also specialised courts established to deal with consumer complaints.

The administration is sometimes very sensitive towards consumer protection. A good example of this is the decision made by the Ministry of Industry and Trade to protect consumers against the Y2K problem. The decision considers Y2K problem as a defect in goods and keeps the manufacturers responsible for the lost or damage caused by the Y2K problem.

A new law has been enacted extending the responsibilities of Capital Market Council (Sermaye Piyasasi Kurulu) to the electronic medium. The law requires the record keeping of the Council be computerised and establishes the Council as the authority in all transactions and activities done in the electronic medium. The Council is the authority in stock market operations.

5.3 Electronic protection, legal protection and security (encryption, electronic commerce)

Electronic protection (encryption) is not available on PSTN. Legal protection is available against privacy violation but proof of violation is not easy.

A change was made in the Constitution to allow the use of international referees as a mechanism to resolve disputes in contracts involving international partners. Recently a new change was introduce to allow the use of international referees to resolve disputes in contracts that were started earlier but currently in effect.

A new legislation has been enacted to prohibit accepting gift and money in international commercial transactions in accordance with the agreement made with OECD.

Another new law enacted by the Ministry of State concerns Higher Council of Banking prohibits the members of the Council to be shareholders of banks. The law also changes the authority to permit the establishment of new banks from the Cabinet of Ministers to Banking Regulation and Audit Council. The law also makes some changes in regulations concerning bank mergers and acquisitions.

A draft laws is under preparation (see paragraph II-2.2) involving the establishment of a National Information Security Organisation.

5.4 Freedom of expression and information

Freedom of expression and information are civil rights that are under the protection of both the constitution and the laws. Nevertheless there are some laws forbidding some sort of expression against the state. These laws are under discussion presently in the political arena to make some changes for more freedom of expression.

Information society policies are not always elaborated in a sufficiently detailed manner in Turkey. Nevertheless, the existence of high level bodies such as the Information Technologies Group in the national parliament, committees such as the Electronic Commerce Co-ordination Committee, long term infrastructure plans such as TUENA and the plans produced by State Planning Organisation imply that information society issues have high importance. Similarly, the existence of many ongoing networking, MIS (Management Information Systems) and other IS (Information Systems) projects at many governmental organisations including ministries, census bureau, internal revenue offices, customs, educational institutions and administration, health organisations and social security administration, railways administration and ticketing, municipalities, public utility administrations and others show that information society projects have a high priority. Information technologies is identified as one of the high priority areas in R and D.

The State Planning Organisation regularly produces five-year development plans. Plan for the coming period covering 2001-2005 is now under preparation. Information society related issues have an increased importance in the plan for the coming period. Two committees were formed to study information society related issues, one on telecommunication infrastructure and the other on services. When approved, the plan may be considered as an umbrella policy document on information society issues.

The TUENA report may be considered as an umbrella policy document on telecommunication infrastructure development.

6.2 IS Application Areas

6.2.1 Government (national, regional and local)

The Government and the local administrations are at a moderate level of computerisation. There are some major networking and MIS projects in all ministerial and administrative organisations. The Government started Kamunet project to harmonise these projects that are under way or planned at different governmental organisations including ministries and other administrative units in the government. The existence of the Kamunet Council signifies that the government considers information society infrastructure development at national governmental level a major concern.

Metropolitan cities such as Istanbul also have some major IS projects.

Ministry of National Education has long been involved in the computerisation of schools and in introducing computer literacy courses into the curricula.

Ministry of National Education has a project to connect all ministerial organisational units at all provinces and to build an MIS. This project is called MEDSIS. Its major components are OKULSIS, which connects schools, and ILSIS, which connects administrative units of the ministry at provincial and subprovincial levels. Another project is to build more new CAI (Computer Aided Instruction) labs or to renew existing ones.

Higher Education Council also considers computer literacy and computer related degree programs very important. This is because there is currently a severe shortage of computer literate university graduates and graduates in computer related areas in Turkey. Higher Education Council started some projects for teacher training to increase the number of instructors in information technologies based on conventional and distance education. It has also established a National Committee on Informatics to develop and implement new models for this purpose.

Academic and research community has an alternative Internet backbone called ULAKNET, which signals the importance given to Internet for academic and research purposes.

6.2.3 Transport

The transport sector is always very lively in Turkey. This being the case, the state and the operators of transport networks consider computerisation and the use of information technologies in the transport sector very important. Therefore there are many projects under way in the transport sector.

State Highways Administration has several IS projects under way including a highway information network project, automatic toll payment project, traffic management system project and emergency communication system project.

State Railways Administration has several IS projects including the reservation and operational management information system project (OMIS), and the central traffic control system project (CTC).

Turkish Airlines has an electronic ticket project.

6.2.4 Medicine

Medical sector and hospitals are undergoing considerable modernisation in Turkey. Many private hospitals are being established and the state hospitals and the overall healthcare system are being upgraded.

Ministry of Health plans to establish a national communication network for medical and health related purposes called UMEDIA. Other Ministry of Health projects include a health statistics project (the TSIM project), a resource management project (the CKYM project), and a hospital information system project (the HBS project).

Social Security Administration, which is under Ministry of Labour and Social Security, has similar projects to connect its medical and administrative units and to establish a management information system.

Information society projects cover virtually all application areas. Some examples are given below.

Ministry of Finance has a project to automate internal revenue and tax offices (the VEDOP project).Ministry of Interior has a project to build a national census system (the MERNIS project). Small and Medium Size Enterprises Administration KOSGEB, which is under Ministry of Industry and Trade, has a project to provide Internet connection to SMEs where a network called KOBINET is to be established.

Internet service provision is gaining increasing popularity in Turkey. Recently leading industrial groups and media groups are investing in this area. Sales campaigns take place at large scale for Internet subscription. A major portion of TV commercials are devoted to Internet penetration and IT related services and sales. The banking sector is particularly dynamic in Turkey, where leading banks offers telephone banking and Internet banking.

There are some major on going changes presently in institutional structures. Some of them have already been made part of the regulatory framework, the best example being the newly enacted communication law. Maybe the most important changes are the ongoing privatisation of Turk Telekom, which is to be completed by the end of year 2003, and the establishment of an independent regulatory body.

The newly enacted telecom law (law number 4161) is to liberalise the telecom market and to privatise Turk Telekom. The law changes the present regulation (by changing some articles of Law number 406, Law number 3348 and Law number 2813, and by adding some articles to these laws) to liberalise the telecommunication regulation. According to the law, Turk Telekom is to be liberalise in terms of the following shares and share owners: Turk Telekom 51%, Post Administration 10%, block sale and public offering 34%, employees and small investors 5%. Two new GSM licenses are to be awarded in the first half of the year 2000 to private companies. Turk Telekom holds the right to establish its own GSM network. The law establishes a telecommunication organisation as the main body of regulation, as an organisation independent from the Ministry of transportation. The law ends the monopoly status of Turk Telekom by the end of year 2003. It clarifies many issues concerning telecom regulation and limits the right of Turk Telecom in some aspects. It also eliminates the requirement that any license to be granted by the Ministry should first be approved by Turk Telekom. With this change, those who apply for a license will directly apply to the Ministry, and approval of Turk Telekom is no longer required.

2.2 New laws and measures under preparation

A draft law prepared by the Ministry of Defence involves the establishment of National Information Security Organisation under the Ministry of Defence. The scope of the Organisation includes both the military and the civil world. The Organisation is composed of the Higher Council of National Information Security and some technical units such as a cryptology unit, an information security unit, etc. The purpose of the draft law is to protect information related to national security, improve information security activities, produce and determine the necessary policies, prepare short and long term plans, determine criteria and standards, etc.

A draft law is under preparation to liberalise radio and TV broadcasting further.

2.3 Allocation of resources (frequencies, numbering, access rights, licensing…)

• The newly enacted telecom law aims liberalising the telecom market in terms of allocation of frequencies and starting new services.

• Two new GSM licenses are to be awarded in the near future.

• Turk Telekom is to launch a third satellite (TURKSAT 2A) in the near future, which is to be operated and marketed by a joint venture company of Turk Telekom and Aerospatiale.

• The current cable TV infrastructure is being upgraded for higher quality and channel capacity.

• The new Internet backbone TTNet is being enlarged for higher coverage countrywide and for adding a third international gateway.

State Planning Organisation has prepared the development plan for the period 2002-2005 emphasising on telecom development and information society issues.

Media market is very dynamic. New TV channels start operation, new newspapers start publishing, new companies in telecommunications, electronic commerce, Internet services, multimedia, electronic banking, PC and Internet TV manufacturing are established every day.

Major industrial, financial and media groups are entering into the Internet market as ISPs or otherwise. Among them are major banks including Garanti Bankasi and Is Bankasi, major industrial groups including Sabanci Group (a Fortune 500 group), Koc Group Group (a Fortune 500 group) and Dogus Group, major media groups including Star Group, Sabah Group and Dogan Group. An example of such an entry is the acquisition of Turk Nokta Net, the leading independent ISP, by the Sabanci Group.

There is recently an open discussion on merging some operations of the three leading industrial groups, Koc, Sabanci and Dogus.

The new Internet backbone of Turk Telekom, TTNet, is now under operation. TTNet replaces the previous backbone Turnet, thus increasing the communication capacity, connectivity and the quality of service considerably. One of the most of important features of TTNet is Dial Internet service, which makes it possible to connect to TTNet from ordinary telephone units by dialing number 145 or number 146. Dial Internet service is intended mostly for remote areas where no ISP provides Internet service. Another important practice with the introduction of TTNet is that Turk Telekom itself is to provide ISP services. These two services are being criticised heavily in the ISP market.