Evaluation of the Telecommunications Sector in Turkey in 2023

Assessments on the Turkish Telecommunications Sector in 2023

The telecommunications sector in Turkey faced significant developments and regulations in 2023. The Association of Free Telecommunications Operators (TELKODER) evaluated the changes in the sector and its performance in 2023 with a comprehensive report. According to this report, as of 2023, a total of 466 companies are operating in the sector.

The report emphasizes that the size of the electronic communication services sector was determined to be 224.5 billion TL in 2023. However, it is noted that this growth did not occur at the expected level in terms of foreign currency. It is stated that since 2008, there has been no significant growth in dollar terms in the sector and that the sector size, which was 18.02 billion dollars in 2013, has decreased to 9.33 billion dollars as of 2023. When adjusted for inflation, the real growth of the sector has remained limited.

According to TÜİK data, the inflation-adjusted electronic communication revenues, which were 14.98 billion TL in 2003, have dropped to 12.08 billion TL in 2023. The report also shares that Turk Telekom invested 10.7 billion TL in 2023, while alternative operators invested 11.2 billion TL. It is emphasized that the barriers preventing alternative operators from making larger investments need to be removed.

It is noted that the length of Turk Telekom’s fiber network has grown by 240.67% between 2009 and 2023, while alternative operators have increased their fiber networks by 631.17%. It is observed that fixed voice traffic has significantly decreased since 2010. This rapid decline in fixed voice traffic in Turkey is attributed to the lack of competition in the market.

There has also been a noticeable slowdown in mobile traffic growth rates in 2022 and 2023. The report indicates that the number of broadband subscribers was 90.6 million in 2022 and 93.3 million in 2023. It emphasizes the necessity of further expanding the fiber network and removing barriers for investors to increase the number of fiber internet subscribers.

It is stated that there are 15,859 subscribers in satellite communication services. It is mentioned that Turkey’s satellite sector has great potential and that the sector needs to grow at least 10 times. Additionally, it is noted in the report that the global data center and cloud market was 229.23 billion dollars in 2023 and is expected to reach 640.77 billion dollars by 2032.

TELKODER states that supporting domestic data centers and strengthening the national data ecosystem is necessary. TELKODER President Halil Nadir Teberci mentioned that the report clearly presents the current situation in the sector and that strengthening the sector will contribute to the strengthening of the country.