January
2001
Turkey
Master Report
|
Turkey Master Report |
This is the final Regulatory Developments report on Turkey as the ESIS project ended in January 2001. This Master Report covers the whole period of the ESIS project surveying the Mediterranean area, March 1999 - January 2001 inclusive.
1. Introduction and Summary
Until the year 2000, Turk Telekom had a monopoly on essentially all telecom markets (telecom infrastructures, cable TV infrastructures, satellite communications, submarine communication lines, Internet backbone, etc.). The situation is evolving quickly in Turkey with the recent change in the telecom legislation to liberalise the telecom sector and to privatise the historical operator. The new legislation, which also creates and independent telecom regulation authority, may lead to an acceleration of the development of the information society in Turkey.
Turkey lacks formally defined umbrella policies and national IS strategies. Yet, IS issues are recognised as important issues by all political parties, by the government and by national and local public administration authorities. All the ministries and all major administrations have major IS related projects. Ministry of Transportation has a central role in IS policies and strategies as telecommunications and Internet are within the scope of this ministry.
IS application areas covers virtually all areas in Turkey. This includes the government, education and training, public administration, banking and insurance, stock exchange, tourism, culture and entertainment, retail, trading and customs, transportation, voice and data communications, hospitals and healthcare, manufacturing, etc.
Turkey is at a relatively advanced level in communications. It has high national and international connectivity in voice (both mobile and conventional) and data communication.
Similarly, Turkey is at a relatively advanced level in IPR legislation, consumer protection, and competition.
The private sector in Turkey is very dynamic. IT penetration is high in large and medium size enterprises. PC penetration in business and at home is increasing very rapidly. Similarly, Cable TV, Cable Internet and content provision are increasing. Major industrial groups are establishing companies in IT sector.
Two bylaws were introduced in 2000, one on the establishment of base stations for mobile telephony, and the other for digital TV broadcasting. The purpose of the bylaw 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 bylaw on digital TV broadcasting is to regulate this area. The bylaw provided the necessary legislation and the broadcasting companies whose operations were banned restarted their operation.
Two new draft laws were introduced in 2000, 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 in 2000. 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 in 2000 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 2000.
Several IT companies were quoted in Istanbul Stock Exchange in 2000. 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. Due to technical reason, launching of Turksat 2A was postponed to the first quarter of 2001.
Several new IT companies were established in Turkey in 2000 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
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 (state monopoly), owning the whole telecommunications infrastructure including conventional telephone lines, satellite communications, cable TV lines, submarine lines and the Internet backbone. The law gave 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 was initially (1988) licensed to two private companies, Turkcell and Telsim. Very recently a third GSM license was granted to Isbank-Telecom Italia consortium. Remote rural area satellite communication and marine communication are also provided by Turk Telekom.
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 instituted separately to establish a competitive telecom market. 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.
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.
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.
Two bylaws 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 bylaw 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 bylaw on digital TV broadcasting is to regulate this area. The reason why this bylaw 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 bylaw provided the necessary legislation and the broadcasting companies restarted their operation.
|
Key measures |
Objective |
Date |
|
Telegraph and Telephone Law number 406 (year 1924) |
Establishment of the original telegraph and telephone regulation for the newly established Turkish Republic |
1924 |
|
Law number 2813 on wireless telecommunications |
Regulate wireless communications |
1993 |
|
Law number 3984 on the establishment of Higher Council of Radio and Television |
Establish Higher Council of Radio and Television |
1994 |
|
Law number 4000 on splitting PTT into two organisations, one for posts, one for telecommunications |
Establish Post Administration and Turk Telekom |
1994 |
|
Intellectual Property Rights Law number 5846 |
Update existing Intellectual Property Rights Law to include software issues and to introduce new measures |
1995 |
|
Law No 4161 changing some articles of Law number 406, Law number 3348 and Law number 2813 and adding some articles to these laws |
Partially privatise Turk Telekom and establish an independent telecommunication authority |
1999 |
|
Law for international referee mechanism |
Allow the utilising of international referees in disputes arising from international business contract |
1999 |
|
Change in Income Tax Law number 193 |
Include software in income tax exemption |
1999 |
|
Draft law changing the establishment of National Information Security Organisation |
To regulate and to control national security related information |
Draft |
|
Bylaw 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 co-ordination and promotion of transition into information society |
2000 |
|
Bylaw for digital TV broadcasting |
To regulate digital TV broadcasting |
2000 |
|
Law for privatisation of 34% share of Turk Telekom |
To liberalise telecommunications market |
2000 |
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.
Two new draft law 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.
A law was enacted in the last quarter of 2000 allowing the government to privatise 34% of the shares of Turk Telekom. The law identifies the owner of this 34% share as the strategic partner. Although it does not have a majority share the strategic partner has the right to manage the company. It is expected that such a formulation will increase the market value of Turk Telekom and attract foreign investors to buy Turk Telekom shares.
2.2 Umbrella policies and national IS strategy
Turkey lacks formally defined umbrella policies and national IS strategies. Yet, IS issues are recognised as important issues by all political parties, by the government and by national and local public administration authorities. All the ministries and all major administrations have major IS related projects.
Ministry of Transportation has a central role in IS policies and strategies as telecommunications and Internet are within the scope of this ministry. The current policy is to liberalise the telecom market, which is reflected in the recently enacted telecom legislation. Ministry of Transportation also prepared a national informatics infrastructure plan.
Another important organisation in policy making and strategy development is State Planning Organisation. State Planning Organisation prepares 5-year period plans. The 8th 5-year plan prepared by State Planning Organisation was approved by the parliament in 2000. The plan recognises information society and information technologies as very important areas. Another area identified as a strategic area is software production.
IS issues and policies are gaining more and more importance every day. An informal group is formed in Turkish General National Assembly (the parliament) among the parliamentarians on information technologies to focus on information society transition and issues. A recent debate led by this group is concerned with the establishment of a separate ministry for IS issues.
Some NGOs and other organisations are also involved in policy making. An example is Turkish Informatics Foundation, which produced a strategy document for transition into information society.
2.3 IS application areas
IS application areas covers virtually all areas in Turkey. This includes the government, education and training, public administration, banking and insurance, stock exchange, tourism, culture and entertainment, retail, trading and customs, transportation, voice and data communications, hospitals and healthcare, manufacturing, etc.
2.4 Government and administration (national, regional, 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.
2.5 Telecommunications and Internet
2.5.1 Licencing
Conventional voice telephony and data transmission line ownerships and operations are currently under the monopoly of Turk Telekom. The new telecom law enacted recently allows some additional services such as closed group voice telephony be provided.
Until recently there were two private companies licensed as GSM operator, Turkcell and Telsim. The third license was awarded to Isbank-Telecom Italia consortium recently. The forth licence is to be awarded in the year 2001. Turk Telekom holds the right of establishing its own GSM network.
Currently there are 3 licenses granted for VSAT services, 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 TUBITAK 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.
Telsim conducted experiments on GPRS during the 3rd quarter of 2000.
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.
2.5.2 Tariffs policies
Until recently telephony and Internet backbone access tariffs of Turk Telekom was subject to the approval of Directorate General of the Ministry of Transportation. The recently 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.
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.
|
Liberalisation
status |
Comments |
|
|
Infrastructures |
||
|
Public telecommunication network |
Ongoing liberalisation |
Turk Telekom (Turkey declared to liberalise the telecom market completely by the end of year 2005 and a new law has been enacted recently to liberalise the market and to privatise Turk Telekom by the end of year 2003). A law was enacted in the last quarter of 2000 to allow the government to sell 34% share of Turk Telekom. |
|
Local networks for voice telephony |
Ongoing liberalisation |
See comment above |
|
Leased lines |
Ongoing liberalisation |
See comment above |
|
Alternative infrastructure (Highway, railways, electricity utilities …) |
Partially liberalised, ongoing liberalisation |
State Highways Administration (TCK) of the Ministry of Transportation is the highways operator; State Railways Administration (TCDD) of the Ministry of Transportation is the railways operator; electricity operators include state owned Turkish Electricity Production and Transmission Enterprise (TEAS) and Turkish Electricity Distribution Enterprise (TEDAS) under the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and several private electricity distribution companies; nation-wide gas pipeline operator is the state enterprise BOTAS; gas distribution within cities is done by gas distribution companies of local municipalities. Several electricity production plants are under construction by private consortiums on a Build-Operate-Transfer basis. Electricity distribution is partially liberalised on a regional basis. The new Istanbul (Ataturk) airport has been built and is being operated by private international consortiums on a Build-Operate-Transfer basis. Currently there exists a single alternative Internet backbone (ULAKNET) for academic and research organisations operated by a unit of TUBITAK |
|
Broadcasting and cable TV |
Broadcasting is fully liberalised, cable TV infrastructure is state monopoly, cable TV broadcasting is fully liberalised |
Turkish Radio and TV TRT with 4 national (TRT1, TRT2, TRT3, TRT4), one regional (GAP), one international (TRTINT/TRT Avrasya) TV channels and several national and local radio stations; many national private TV channels such as Kanal D, NTV, Show TV, Star TV, STV, TGRT TV, HBB, CINE5 etc; many local TV channels such as Medya TV, ETV, MNG TV, Tavuz TV etc, many national and local radio stations; cable TV infrastructure is owned by Turk Telekom; frequency allocation is by Higher Council of Radio and TV RTUK. Cable TV is available in 20 major cities. A draft law is under preparation to partially liberalise the current radio and TV broadcasting legislation. |
|
Voice telephony |
||
|
Local communication |
Ongoing liberalisation |
See comment above |
|
Domestic long-distance |
Ongoing liberalisation |
See comment above |
|
International communication |
Ongoing liberalisation |
See comment above |
|
Provision of voice services to closed user groups |
Ongoing liberalisation |
The new communication law enacted recently allows private or public organisations to establish such services |
|
Mobile communication |
||
|
Analogue |
State Monopoly |
Turk Telekom |
|
GSM digital |
Liberalised |
Turkcell (owned by Cukurova, Petra, Telecom Finland, Ericsson) 2/3 market share, Telsim (owned by Detecom, Simko, Teletas, Alcatel, Siemens) 1/3 market share.A new licence was awarded to Isbank-Telecom Italia consortium in the year 2000. A forth license si also to be awarded in the near future. Yet another license right is owned by Turk Telekom. |
|
DCS 1800 digital |
Liberalised |
To be established (the two new licences to be granted in the year 2000 according to the new telecom law are expected to operate DCS 1800 networks) |
|
Paging |
Ongoing liberalisation |
See comment above |
|
Satellite communications |
Partially liberalised |
Turk Telekom operates TURKSAT 1B and TURKSAT 1C; TURKSAT 1B provides national and international IBS telephone channels and currently 13 TV channels; TURKSAT 1C provides 15 TV channels, IBS channels and VSAT services; Turk Telekom formed a joint venture company with Aerospatiale to launch, operate and market TURKSAT 2A (now called EURASIASAT), which is to become operational in a few years; Turk Telekom is a member of INTELSAT, EUTELSAT and INMARSAT; some international companies also provide international satellite communications; Turk Telekom operates VSAT and IBS services on a revenue sharing basis (there are currently 3 such licenses granted to private companies, Comsat, Satko and Erenet); remote rural area satellite telephone communication is provided by Turk Telekom |
|
Data transmissions |
Ongoing liberalisation |
Turk Telekom owns the current Internet backbone TTNet; Both Turk Telekom and private companies (currently 80 companies) provide Internet services; Also available is ULAKNET as an alternative backbone for academic institutions, operated by a unit of TUBITAK |
|
Value Added Services |
Liberalised |
Some ISPs provide value added services |
|
Internet services provision |
Fully liberalised |
About 80 private ISPs exit; DNS allocation is done by a university |
|
Equipment provision |
Fully liberalised |
Several major manufacturers including NETAS (partially owned by Nortel) and Alcate Teletas (partially owned by Alcatel) |
2.6 Electronic commerce
Electronic commerce is considered to be one of the most important issues in Turkey. Electronic commerce is promoted by many organisations including business associations, chambers, government organisations, NGOs, media, universities and private companies. Many meetings are being organised to discuss all aspects and issues of electronic commerce.
Undersecretary of Foreign Trade established a committee for coordination studies in electronic commerce. This committee produces reports addressing legal and technical issues related to electronic commerce.
KOSGEB, SME development administration, promotes SMEs for electronic commerce.
2.7 Education and research
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 sub-provincial 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.
2.8 Transport
The transport sector is always very live 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.
2.9 Health care
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.
2.10 Labour
Turkey has a severe shortage of IT professionals. Although the number of IT related departments doubled in the last 5 five years, the current higher education system is still uncapable of producing sufficient number of graduates in IT. This resulted in recruiting IT professionals from abroad (India). A recent report indicates that the shortage will become much more severe in a few years.
Higher Education Council takes some measures to overcome this situation. Measures include promoting distance education, sending students abroad for doctoral study, retraining trainers to become trainers in IT, etc.
2.11 Competition
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.
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.
2.12 Access for all
2.12.1 Interconnectivity
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 (now 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.
2.12.2 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.
2.12.3 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 expected to be 19 at the end of year 2000. The third GSM network will further increase GSM coverage.
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). Internet penetration is expected to reach 2.7% at the end of year 2000.
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. Turk Telekom is planning to increase the number of access nodes from 140 to 198 in the first half of year 2001. International outgoing traffic capacity is to be increased from 155 Mbps to 268 Mbps in the first half of year 2001.
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. Turk Telekom is planning to extend the Cable TV network to 60 more provinces. Number of Cable TV subscribers is to reach 900000 at the end of year 2000.
2.12.4 Quality of service
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. The third GSM license will 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.
2.13 Copyright, intellectual property rights
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.
2.14 Public access to data
Turkey is at a relatively advanced level in terms of public access to data. Essentially all ministries, other state and governmental organisations, local administration, and other major organisations have web sites containing data on them. This data sometimes includes directories, statistics, legislative information, information for some procedures involving the public, etc. There are some services allowing the public to make applications and inquiries and to fill forms, etc.
Aside from the legislation concerning national security, there is no legislation forbidding public to access data.
2.15 Privacy, data protection, consumer protection
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.
2.16 Security
Electronic protection (encryption) is not available on PSTN. Legal protection is available against privacy violation but proof of violation is not easy.
A draft laws is under preparation (see paragraph II-2.2) involving the establishment of a National Information Security Organisation.
2.17 Freedom of expression and information as far as the distribution via electronic networks are concerned
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.
2.18 Others
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.
3. Institutions and organisations in charge of IS regulation
3.1 Ministries
Ministry of Transportation is in charge of the telecommunication issues in general.
Ministry of State is in charge of radio and television broadcasting.
3.2 National regulatory authorities
Until very recently, Ministry of Transportation was the sole policy maker in telecommunications. Two directorates of Ministry of Transportation used to be the two highest level authorities in telecommunications; Directorate General of Communications (HGM) as the regulatory authority in general in communications and Directorate General of Wireless Communications (TGM) as the regulator in wireless communications. The recently enacted telecom law established an independent regulatory authority. Very recently appointments were made for the presidency and the memberships of this body and it became operational.
Higher Council of Radio and Television (RTUK) under the Ministry of State is the regulator in radio and TV broadcasting and in cable TV. Higher Council of Radio and Television is an independent body eventhough its members are appointed by the government.
DNS allocation is currently granted to a university (Middle East technical University). There is currently a debate to set up an independent or industry driven DNS names allocation body.
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.
The Telecommunications Council, which is the independent regulatory body in telecommunication established according to the new telecom law started to work in 2000.
3.3 Office for the protection of economic competition
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.
3.4 Consultative councils
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 Co-ordination Committee is another informal consultative body formed by the Undersecretary of Foreign Trade.
3.5 Bodies in charge of RTD policy
There is no active official body for determining RTD policy. There are two bodies directly involved in the policy making and implementation in RTD. TUBITAK, Scientific and Technical Research Council, is responsible for managing RTD funds for universities and research organisations, for running its own RTD institutes and managing RTD incentives for the industry. YOK, Higher Education Council, is responsible for the planning and co-ordination of higher education. As the whole higher education system is fully under the control of YOK, from establishing a research center in a state university to establishing a new private university, to determining university budgets, and to setting quotas for faculty members in each and every university on an area basis, it is a very powerful unit in RTD policy determination and implementation.
3.6 Organisations in charge of the promotion of the IS
There is no official body or organisation in charge of the promotion of the IS. On the other hand, many organisations participate in the promotion of IS, including state organisations such as TUBITAK and YOK, Undersecretary of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Transportation, KOSGEB (SME Development Administration), etc., semi-official groups such as Internet Higher Council, Information Technology Group of the Grand national Assembly, Electronic Commerce Coordination Committee of Undersecretary of Foreign Trade, NGOs such as Turkish Informatics Foundation, Turkish Informatics Association, Internet technologies Association and Informatics Industrialists Association, and the private sector.
4. International relationships and agreements
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 would be launched in the last quarter of year 2000, but it was postponed to the first quarter of 2001 due to technical reasons.
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. A new law was enacted in the last quarter of year 2000 to sell 34% share of Turk Telekom in the first quarter of 2001.
5. Market
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.
Some industrial groups who invested in banking, media and Internet recently became the leading groups in Turkey. The best example of this is Cukurova Group. This group now owns two major national banks Yapi Kredi Bank and Pamukbank together with other companies in related financial areas such as insurance, leasing and factoring, many ICT companies including Turkcell, the leading mobile operator, Superonline, the leading ISP, KVK, the leading mobile phone sets distributor, Bilpa, a major software company in banking, and several foreign mobile operators such as Azercell (Azerbaijan), Geocell (Georgia), KKTCell (Northern cyprus), Kcell (Kazakhstan), several national newspapers, national TVs and other media companies including Sabah (newspaper), Yeni Asir (newspaper), Yeni Binyil (newspaper), ATV (TV), Kanal 6 (TV), Yeni TV (TV), Media (TV production), Eksen (TV production), and Digital Platform (digital TV).
Several IT companies were quoted in Istanbul Stock Exchange in 2000 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. Several IT companies applied for quotation in Istanbul Stock exchange in 2000 including Gen-Pa (mobile phone sets distributor), Link (a software company), Arena (PC and peripheral distributor), Index (integrated solutions provider), Porcan (barcode equipments suuplier), Karel (mobile phone sets distributor) and Datateknik (PC and peripheral distributor). Companies planning applying for quotation in 2001 include KVK (leading mobile phone sets distributor), Superonline (leading ISP), Ixir (leading ISP), Likom (software company) and Vestelnet (leading ISP).
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, but it was postponed to the first quarter of 2001 due to technical reasons.
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.
Local distributor company of Apple, Bilkom was acquired by the leading industrial group Koc Group.
6. Standards
6.1 Standardisation bodies dealing with IS issues
There is no standardisation body solely dealing with IS issues. Turkish Standards Institute, which is a member of ISO, is the official standardisation organisation, covering all areas. Some NGOs, associations and other organisations contribute in the promotion of standardisation. Turkish Informatics Foundation has a standards committee, promoting standardisation in software process improvement and software quality, naming and formatting standards (such as date), standardisation of terminology, and the use of Turkish characters in data processing and communications. Turkish Informatics Foundation also works on promoting the use of Turkish characters.
6.2 Relevant standards
Turkish IT industry is aware of software process improvement standards such as ISO SPICE, quality standards such as ISO 9001, other software and documentation standards such as IEEE standards.
For electronic commerce, document interchange standards such as EDIFACT, electronic payment and security standards, digital signature and standard and internationally compliant legal framework are essential. Also relevant is setting up an authentication system such as public key infrastructure.
Standard on character sets such as Latin 5, which includes the Turkish character set, and the new 256 bit character set standard are also relevant.
For the hardware industry, such as the monitor manufacturers, emission standards are relevant.
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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