Press release: Türk Telekom inks deal to boost services at home

Turkey's largest telecom company, Türk Telekom, has struck a deal with US-based Internet content delivery network Akamai Technologies Inc. to boost the quality of services offered in Turkey.

The two companies made their deal public on Thursday in London. The agreement envisages Akamai helping Türk Telekom double the speed of the Internet services it provides at home. Speaking to reporters about the deal in London on Thursday, Türk Telekom General Manager Tahsin Y?lmaz said he expected the Internet speed in Turkey to improve starting from the first quarter of 2014. The two companies had been describing a possible deal for the past year.

“Faster Internet services will not only further Turkish users' integration into the global online market; we will also have the opportunity to reach out to more users in the surrounding region,” Y?lmaz said. He also said the company expects the Akamai deal to help decrease the cost of Internet subscriptions in Turkey.

In addition to owning Turkey's third-largest GSM operator, Avea, Türk Telekom owns the country's leading Internet service provider, TTNET. Oger Telecom bought a 55 percent stake in Türk Telekom in 2005 for $6.5 billion from the Turkish government. A 30 percent stake in Türk Telekom is held by the Turkish Treasury, and the remaining 15 percent is publicly traded. Since its privatization, Türk Telekom has made remarkable progress with innovative products in Turkish markets; the company has a market value of $23.3 billion in Turkey.

Türk Telekom expects to make a total investment of TL 2.2 billion in Turkey by the end of this year.

One of the world's largest distributed computing platforms, Akamai serves between 15 and 20 percent of all Web traffic.