1 THE DIFFUSION OF THE INTERNET IN THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY Peter Wolcott University of Nebraska at Omaha November, 1999 2 THE DIFFUSION OF THE INTERNET IN THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY................................................ 5 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................5 Overview of Turkey..................................................................................................................................... 5 Key Organizations .................................................................................................................................... 10 NETWORKS IN TURKEY ....................................................................................................................................12 A brief history of telecommunications....................................................................................................... 12 The Origin of the Turkish Internet............................................................................................................. 18 TURNET................................................................................................................................................... 22 0822 Service............................................................................................................................................. 27 TTNET...................................................................................................................................................... 27 ULAKNET ................................................................................................................................................ 29 ANALYSIS FRAMEWORK DIMENSION.................................................................................................................33 Pervasiveness ........................................................................................................................................... 34 Geographic Dispersion............................................................................................................................. 36 Sectoral Absorption .................................................................................................................................. 37 Connectivity Infrastructure ....................................................................................................................... 43 Organizational Infrastructure ................................................................................................................... 47 Sophistication of Use ................................................................................................................................ 49 Analytic Framework Dimensions............................................................................................................... 51 ANALYSIS FRAMEWORK DETERMINANTS ..........................................................................................................53 Access to the Internet................................................................................................................................ 54 Cost of Internet Access ............................................................................................................................. 55 Ease of Use............................................................................................................................................... 57 Perceived Value of the Internet................................................................................................................. 57 Resources ................................................................................................................................................. 61 Legal and Regulatory FRAMEWORK ....................................................................................................... 63 Ability to Execute ..................................................................................................................................... 64 Geography................................................................................................................................................ 66 Demand for Capacity................................................................................................................................ 66 Multiplicity of ISPs................................................................................................................................... 66 Services Provided ..................................................................................................................................... 67 Culture of Entrepreneurship ..................................................................................................................... 67 Forces for change..................................................................................................................................... 67 Enablers of Change .................................................................................................................................. 68 PROSPECTS FOR THE INTERNET IN TURKEY .......................................................................................................69 Determinants of Pervasiveness.................................................................................................................. 69 Determinants of Geographic Dispersion ................................................................................................... 70 Determinants of sectoral absorption ......................................................................................................... 71 Determinants of Connectivity Infrastructure ............................................................................................. 74 Determinants of Organizational Infrastructure ......................................................................................... 76 Determinants of Sophistication of Use ...................................................................................................... 78 Government policy and the determinants of internet diffusion................................................................... 79 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................................................83 APPENDIX A CHRONOLOGY OF INTERNET-RELATED EVENTS IN TURKEY............................................................89 APPENDIX B TURKISH INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS.......................................................................................91 APPENDIX C TTNET POINTS OF PRESENCE (POP) AND (PLANNED) CONNECTION SERVICES................................95 APPENDIX D UNIVERSITY CONNECTIONS TO ULAKNET ................................................................................101 APPENDIX E GLOSSARY.................................................................................................................................105 3 FIGURE 1 THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY.......................................................................................................................5 FIGURE 2 TERRESTRIAL AND SUBMARINE CABLES TERMINATING IN TURKEY. .........................................................15 FIGURE 3 GSM SUBSCRIBERS IN TURKEY..............................................................................................................17 FIGURE 4 TUVAKA TOPOLOGY (MARCH, 1995)...................................................................................................18 FIGURE 5 LEASED-LINE CONNECTIONS TO TR-NET (MARCH 1995).......................................................................20 FIGURE 6 TURNET TOPOLOGY (OCT. 1996) ........................................................................................................23 FIGURE 7 TURNET BACKBONE (SEPT., 1999). .....................................................................................................24 FIGURE 8 TTNET TOPOLOGY................................................................................................................................28 FIGURE 9 ULAKNET BACKBONE.........................................................................................................................31 FIGURE 10 GROWTH OF ULAKNET (UNIVERSITY NODES).....................................................................................32 FIGURE 11 AN ANALYTIC FRAMEWORK FOR THE DIFFUSION OF THE INTERNET .......................................................34 FIGURE 12 NUMBER OF DOMAIN NAMES IN TURKISH TOP-LEVEL SUBDOMAINS (MAY-AUGUST, 1999) ....................38 FIGURE 13 GROWTH IN .COM.TR DOMAIN NAMES..................................................................................................40 FIGURE 14 GROWTH OF NUMBER OF .GOV.TR DOMAINS. ........................................................................................42 FIGURE 15 AGGREGATE INTERNATIONAL BANDWIDTH ..........................................................................................44 FIGURE 16 AGGREGATE DOMESTIC BACKBONE BANDWIDTH..................................................................................45 FIGURE 17 THE INTERNET IN TURKEY: ANALYTIC FRAMEWORK DIMENSIONS .........................................................53 FIGURE 18 MONTHLY RATES FOR ISP ACCESS TO INTERNET BACKBONE. ...............................................................56