November
2000
Turkey
Update Memo
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Turkey Update Memo |
The following report outlines new developments in the past three months and the state of on-going developments.
1. Introduction and Summary
Two by-laws were introduced in this period, one on the establishment of base stations for mobile telephony, and the other for digital TV broadcasting. The purpose of the by-law on base stations in mobile telephony is to regulate the installation of base stations in a way not to danger public safety and public health. The purpose of the by-law on digital TV broadcasting is to regulate this area. The by-law provided the necessary legislation and the broadcasting companies whose operations were banned restarted their operation.
Two new draft laws were introduced in this period, one for establishing a separate ministry for information society issues, and the other for digital signature. The draft law for the establishment of a separate ministry was prepared by the IT Group of parliamentarians in the Grand National Assembly and was submitted to the prime minister by the Group.
The 8th 5-year plan prepared by the State Planning Organisation was approved by the parliament this period. The plan recognises information society and information technologies as very important areas. Another area identified as a strategic area is software production.
A semi-formal DNS Council was formed by Internet Higher Council, to prepare a proposal for this service which is currently done by Middle East Technical University.
The Telecommunications Council, which is the independent regulatory body in telecommunication established according to the new telecom law in the last period started to work in this period.
Several IT companies were quoted in Istanbul Stock Exchange in this period. Istanbul Stock Exchange established a separate index called the technology index for high tech companies. Turkcell, the largest GSM operator, was also quoted in NYSE in this period.
Turk Telekom announced that TT’s third telecom satellite TURKSAT 2A would be launched in the last quarter of year 2000. It was also announced that another telecom satellite called Anatolia I would be launched in the same period.
Several new IT companies were established in Turkey as joint ventures between Turkish and Greek IT companies. This is a direct result of the Turkish-Greek IS Forum established by Turkish Informatics Foundation and Hellenic Federation of IT Companies SEPE over a year ago.
2. Information Society policy
2.1 Historical overview and general legislation
| Key measures | Objective | Date |
| By-law for base stations for mobile communication | To regulate and control the installation of base stations for public health and safety | 2000 |
| Draft law for digital signature | To facilitate electronic payment and other transactions in electronic commerce and in other electronic procedures. | 2000 |
| Draft law for the establishment of a ministry of information society | To facilitate the coordination and promotion of transition into information society | 2000 |
| By-law for digital TV broadcasting | To regulate digital TV broadcasting | 2000 |
Two by-laws were introduced in this period, one on the establishment of base stations for mobile telephony, and the other for digital TV broadcasting. The purpose of the by-law on base stations in mobile telephony is to regulate the installation of base station in a way not to danger public safety and public health. The purpose of the by-law on digital TV broadcasting is to regulate this area. The reason why this by-law was introduced was that RTUK, the regulatory body on radio and TV broadcasting declared digital TV broadcasting illegal because there was yet no legislation on this issue. The by-law provided the necessary legislation and the broadcasting companies restarted their operation.
Two new draft laws were introduced in this period, one for establishing a separate ministry for information society issues, and the other for digital signature.
Establishment of a separate ministry on IS has been and is being discussed for some time in the IT sector and in the IT Group of parliamentarians in the Grand National Assembly (The group currently consists of some 65 parliamentarians). The draft law prepared was submitted to the prime minister by the IT Group.
Digital signature law is considered essential for electronic payment and for other transactions in electronic commerce and in other electronic procedures. The law is currently under discussion in the IT sector.
2.2 Umbrella policies and national IS strategy
The 8th 5-year plan prepared by State Planning Organisation was approved by the parliament this period. The plan recognises information society and information technologies as very important areas. Another area identified as a strategic area is software production.
2.3 IS application areas
There has been no new development in this area in this period.
2.4 Government and administration (national, regional, local)
There has been no new development in this area in this period.
2.5 Telecommunications and Internet
Telsim conducted experiments on GPRS in this period.
Licencing
A semi-formal DNS Council was formed by Internet Higher Council, to prepare a proposal for this service. Currently, DNS licensing is done by Middle East Technical University, and many ISPs complain about the high bureaucracy.
Tariffs policies
There has been no new development in this area in this period.
2.6 Electronic commerce
There has been no new development in this area in this period.
2.7 Education and research
There has been no new development in this area in this period.
2.8 Transport
There has been no new development in this area in this period.
2.9 Health care
There has been no new development in this area in this period.
2.10 Labour
There has been no new development in this area in this period.
2.11 Competition
There has been no new development in this area in this period.
2.12 Access for all
Interconnectivity
There has been no new development in this area in this period.
Universal service
There has been no new development in this area in this period.
Quality of service
There has been no new development in this area in this period.
2.13 Copyright, intellectual property rights
There has been no new development in this area in this period.
2.14 Public access to data
There has been no new development in this area in this period.
2.15 Privacy, data protection, consumer protection
There has been no new development in this area in this period.
2.16 Security
There has been no new development in this area in this period.
2.17 Freedom of expression and information as far as the distribution via electronic networks are concerned
There has been no new development in this area in this period.
3. Institutions and organisations in charge of IS regulation
3.1 Ministries
There has been no new development in this area in this period.
3.2 National regulatory authorities
The Telecommunications Council, which is the independent regulatory body in telecommunication established according to the new telecom law in the last period started to work in this period.
3.3 Office for the protection of economic competition
There has been no new development in this area in this period.
3.4 Consultative councils
There has been no new development in this area in this period.
3.5 Bodies in charge of RTD policy
There has been no new development in this area in this period.
3.6 Organisations in charge of the promotion of the IS
There has been no new development in this area in this period.
4. International relationships and agreements
There has been no new development in this area in this period.
5. Market: Privatisation, foreign investment, mergers, acquisitions, call for tenders, …
Several IT companies were quoted in Istanbul Stock Exchange in this period including Netas, a communication equipment vendor, Alcatel, Aselsan, a military electronics company, Pirelli cable, Logo, a leading software company, Escort, a leading PC manufacturing company, and Turkcell, the largest GSM operator. Istanbul Stock Exchange established a separate index called the technology index for high tech companies. Turkcell was also quoted in NYSE in this period.
Turk Telekom announced that TT’s third telecom satellite TURKSAT 2A would be launched in the last quarter of year 2000. It was also announced that another telecom satellite called Anatolia I would be launched in the same period.
Several new IT companies were established in Turkey as joint ventures between Turkish and Greek IT companies. This is a direct result of the Turkish-Greek IS Forum established by Turkish Informatics Foundation and Hellenic Federation of IT Companies SEPE over a year ago. Greek IT companies consider the Turkish IT market a profitable one to invest. Some of these newly established companies are considering getting listed in Istanbul Stock Exchange.
6. Standards
6.1 Standardisation bodies dealing with IS issues
There has been no new development in this area in this period.
6.2 Relevant standards
The Standards Committee of Turkish Informatics Foundation prepared a draft standard for representing date, time, abbreviations for days of week, abbreviations for months of year, abbreviations for currencies, decimal point and decimal grouping in numbers, sequence numbers, etc. in Turkish to submit to Turkish Standards Institute for possible adoption as a national standard.
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