TT was named Turkey’s most valuable trademark in 2009 in a list jointly compiled by independent brand-valuation consultancy Brand Finance and Capital magazine. One can assume that the company’s efforts to establish a well-developed technology infrastructure in the Turkish market and to also contribute to the country’s services exports played a role to this end. Such efforts come in handy while trying to reduce the country’s current account deficit (CAD).
I had the opportunity to discuss TT’s future vision with the company’s CEO, Paul Doany. TT aims to be a company that does not merely offer fixed-line and Internet services. The company invested TL 520 million in technology infrastructure projects in the first six months of this year alone. It also hired 3,500 new employees in the same period.
The main focus of TT’s current strategy is to bring broadband, mobile, fixed-line and multimedia services together in one package and offer audio, video and data services all in one. Some of the recently introduced services, including interactive education, online games and WebTV, are examples of this initiative.
Sobee, an online game program; Vitamin, an online education-support program for primary and high school students; Tivibu, a WebTV initiative enabling users to watch television through their DSL connections for a per-program fee; and Wirofon, a service that enables subscribers to make phone calls in a WiFi service coverage area, are great examples of “challenges Türk Telekom faces in the global market.” As far as I’ve heard, the company is offering these services to customers around the world.
As you can see, TT not only aims to become a leader in the region but in the entire global market. It is necessary to mention some recent acquisitions made by the company. Türk Telekom owns 99.9 percent of shares in communications companies Argela, Innova, Sebit and Sobee. The acquisition of Argela and Innova helped the company expand its presence in the software market, while Sebit and Sobee were attempts to strengthen its position in broadband services. Also, with the purchase of Hungarian communications firm Invitel International, TT strengthened its leading position by enjoying a share in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region with a total of 27,000 kilometers of fiber optic cable installed in 27 countries.
This was a major step in helping realize Turkey’s goal of becoming a “communication bridge.” TT is now connecting the Middle East and Asian regions to Western Europe and the US. Countries will vie for a share in this bridge in the near future.
Let me underline one point: Small companies generally see larger ones as a threat. However, those who know the rules of the market well promote themselves as partners for companies larger in size. We should analyze TT’s acquisitions of some growing companies in this regard. TT is offering many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) the opportunity to improve their company structure while easing their burden with expanded services thanks to these latest investments. Another target here is to reverse the brain drain from Turkey. Doany suggests that incentives for research and development (R&D) be given to Turkish entrepreneurs first; otherwise foreign companies will claim ownership of local efforts to develop new technologies, he explains. The company CEO also tells me that they recently selected 1,000 young people out of 300,000 in Turkey and that TT will provide training programs for these people.
While it endeavors to increase investments and offer innovations to the market, TT is serving Turkey’s future with a desirable social responsibility initiative. Such is the approach that the Turkish public is expecting from foreign investors.
