Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoğlu attended the opening of Turkcell's Europe Data Center, which was brought to life in Tekirdağ. Karaismailoğlu stated that the transport and communication sectors are at the center of life socially and economically, and that these two areas affect all sectors.
Stating that, just as in all transport modes, they prioritize domestic and national approaches in the fields of informatics, communication, and telecommunications, Karaismailoğlu said they have signed important projects that will raise citizens' standard of living.
Karaismailoğlu noted that the importance of information and data is increasing day by day, adding strength to the power of institutions and countries, and stated that 5G comes at the forefront of these technologies.
Explaining that all developed and developing countries are closely following 5G due to its role as the key point of advanced technologies and data security, Karaismailoğlu announced that many countries in the world and Europe are conducting studies to launch commercial 5G services after conducting 5G trials.
Karaismailoğlu stated that out of Turkey's current 83.6 million mobile subscribers, 78.5 million are 4.5G subscribers, and that this figure reached in 5 years shows that technologies like 5G can spread rapidly in Turkey.
Emphasizing that storing, backing up data, and protecting it from all kinds of disasters and cyber attacks is of great importance as much as collecting, processing, and transforming it into value-added services, Karaismailoğlu pointed out that this is also very important in terms of personal and national security.
Karaismailoğlu said that they prioritize domestic and national capabilities in their plans for 5G technologies and that they are advancing confidently towards transitioning to 5G technology with domestic and national means.
Minister Karaismailoğlu: 5.5 Billion Transactions Conducted on e-Government in 8 Months
Adil Karaismailoğlu expressed that Turkey's electronic communications sector grew by 18.8% in the first half compared to the same period last year, and announced that more than 92 billion lira has been invested in the development of the communications sector between 2003-2021.
Karaismailoğlu announced that fiber line length has reached 445 thousand kilometers, fixed broadband subscriber count has reached 17.4 million, fiber subscriber count in fixed infrastructures has reached 4.3 million, mobile subscriber count has exceeded 84.6 million, and machine-to-machine communication subscriber count has reached 7 million.
Karaismailoğlu announced that with the pandemic, in the first quarter of this year, fiber internet subscriber count increased by 25% and internet usage by 62% compared to the same period in 2020.
Touching upon the services they offer to facilitate citizens' transactions, Karaismailoğlu said that a total of 5.5 billion transactions were conducted on e-Government in the first 8 months of the year, and that they will continue to launch new services to make citizens' affairs easier in this regard.
Domestic Data Center Investment is a Must
Minister Karaismailoğlu pointed to the importance of data privacy, stating that this issue has now become a topic of great importance on the international stage.
Stating that they are aware of the importance carried by data together with all institutions and organizations, Karaismailoğlu said, "It is extremely important for our institutions to make their investments with this approach, starting from the view that 'Turkey's data should stay in Turkey.' Domestic data center investments are indispensable for the privacy of our country's, our citizens', and the data of businesses that create value for this country."
Emphasizing that storing and backing up data against all kinds of natural disasters, physical, and cyber attacks in the information and communication sector is of vital importance, Karaismailoğlu said, "In this sense, Turkcell's Europe Data Center, whose opening we are holding today, is a strong and redundant technology investment. The fact that the data center's domestic ratio is around 75% is a valuable development. Our data center, designed and constructed to withstand a magnitude 9 earthquake, is extremely important in terms of information backup and security of the Ankara, İzmir, and Gebze data centers."
Karaismailoğlu stated that one of the contributions provided by the dizzying developments in the information and communication sector emerges during natural disasters, and said, "As you will remember, in the flood and fire disasters we experienced very recently, we quickly mobilized to meet the increased mobile communication traffic in the region. We brought the additional mobile communication infrastructures needed into service in a very short time."
The opening of the program in Tekirdağ was attended by Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan, Chairman of the Information Technologies and Communication Authority Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu, alongside top-level Turkcell executives and numerous guests. After the speeches, Karaismailoğlu cut the opening ribbon and then toured the data center, receiving information from the authorities.