History

Türk Telekom's privatization was completed on November 14, 2005, with the transfer of 55% of Türk Telekom shares to Oger Joint Venture Group.

Türk Telekom subsidiary TTNET was established on April 26, 2006, commencing operations on May 14 by obtaining an internet service provider license.

Türk Telekom increased its shareholding in Avea to 81.12% with the acquisition of 40.56% of the shares of İş-TİM for USD 500 million on September 15, 2006.

15% of Türk Telekom shares were offered to the public and listed on the Istanbul Stock Exchange on May 15, 2008.

Türk Telekom acquired Invitel International (now Türk Telekom International),on October 7, 2010, the leading wholesale capacity and data services provider in Central and Eastern Europe.

Türk Telekom distributed TL 2.244 billion – its entire 2010 distributable profit – to shareholders in gross cash dividends on 30 May 2011, breaking an all-time record in the history of the Istanbul Stock Exchange.

Türk Telekom became Turkey's first telecommunications company to report its carbon emissions to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).

Türk Telekom increased its total shareholding in Avea to 89.99%.

TTNET and Sobee, two wholly owned Türk nTelekom subsidiaries, were merged with the transfer of Sobee's entire assets and business to TTNET.

On December 10, 2013, upon a resolution adopted by the Board of Directors Türk Telekom announced the restructuring of its executive leadership by combining the roles of Group CEO and General Manager into a single CEO position and removing the Group CFO position.

Türk Telekom's overseas bond offering of up to USD 1 billion (or its equivalent in other foreign currency or Turkish Lira) with a maturity of up to 10 years was oversubscribed eight times by investors from a broad geography. The transaction was the largest corporate bond issue as well as the first-ever dual tranche debt offering across two maturities issued in Turkey. Conducted in two tranches with 5-year and 10-year maturities, the bond issuance was priced at a 30 bps spread to Turkish sovereign issues of similar tenors.

International credit rating agency Fitch Ratings assigned "BBB-" (investment grade) with a stable outlook to Türk Telekom's long-term foreign and local currency issuer default ratings and assigned "BBB-" to senior unsecured rating; and affirmed the rating afterwards as part of its routine review in 2014.

International credit rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) upgraded the corporate credit rating of Türk Telekom from "BB+" to "BBB-" (investment grade), emphasizing that Türk Telekom had strengthened its liquidity position after a successful bond issue of USD 1 billion in June 2014.

TTNET A.Ş. purchased the Turkey media rights of UEFA Champions League andUEFA Europe League matches for three seasons beginning with the 2015-2016 season. It was announced that UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europe League football games would be broadcast via the Türk Telekom Group's digital TV broadcasting platform Tivibu. Pursuant to the contract signed with UEFA, an agreement was also reached with TRT, which became Türk Telekom's free-to-air partner.

The Türk Telekom Group, the leading telecommunications and communication technology group in Turkey, celebrated its 175th anniversary with a spectacular reception held in Ankara with the attendance of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The transfer of the shares of Avea İletişim Hizmetleri A.Ş., which were held by the İş Bank Group, to Türk Telekomünikasyon A.Ş., was completed. With the share transfer, Türk Telekom became the sole owner of Avea İletişim Hizmetleri A.Ş.

After signing a C&MA (Construction and Maintenance Agreement), Türk Telekom International joined the SEA-ME-WE-5 consortium as a full member. In order to provide the most innovative, reliable and comprehensive services with the fastest and most robust infrastructure in Turkey and the surrounding region, Türk Telekom also supported the powerful terrestrial network connecting the three continents with the submarine.

Avea İletişim Hizmetleri A.Ş., has won the below packages in the IMT Service and Infrastructure Authorization Tender (publicly known as LTE Authorization Tender) held by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (ICTA) on August 26, 2015.

• 2x10 MHz bandwidth in 800 MHz frequency for Euro 380,000,000,
• 2x7.6 MHz bandwidth in 900 MHz frequency for Euro 216,819,184,
• 2x20 MHz bandwidth in 1800 MHz frequency for Euro 310,000,000,
• 2x10 MHz bandwidth in 2600 MHz frequency for Euro 25,858,917,
• 1x15 MHz bandwidth in 2600 MHz frequency for Euro 22,000,000.

As a result of this tender Avea,

• In the 800 MHz frequency, owns the cleanest and the closest package to the 700 MHz frequency, which is an important element for 5G
• In the 900 MHz frequency, moved out of a disadvantageous position
• In the 1800 MHz frequency, has the widest capacity, which is the most important frequency for LTE
• Holds 175 MHz of total bandwidth.
• Has the highest MHz per user.

Total spectrum fee is Euro 954,678,101.

Türk Telekom Group announced a partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to provide the most advanced cloud computing solutions to Turkish companies. Under this partnership, all enterprises in Turkey, small or large, will be able to access virtual server services provided through the AWS global cloud network.

Türk Telekom Group, Turkey's leading integrated telecommunications company, joined the Bridge Alliance, the largest mobile alliance of the leading mobile operators in the Asia-Pacific region. The Türk Telekom Group is the first company to represent Turkey within the Bridge Alliance, which has a combined customer base of over 700 million customers.

Türk Telekom Group introduced its first smartphone "TT175."

In order to deliver mobile, broadband, fixed voice and TV services through a single channel, the brands Avea, Türk Telekom and TTNET were unified under a single "Türk Telekom" brand.

Taking the first step towards its vision of supporting domestic production in LTE technologies, Türk Telekom became the first operator to place an order for ULAK, the LTE national base station project, developed by Aselsan, Netaş and Türk Telekom's R&D subsidiary Argela, with the support of the Undersecretariat of the Defense Industry.

Türk Telekom was named "Turkey's most valuable telecommunication brand" in 2016 on the "Telecoms 500" list of the world's 500 most valuable telecommunication brands, published annually by Brand Finance.

At the GSM Association Mobile Congress held in Barcelona on February 22-25, cooperation between Türk Telekom and Korea Telecom was announced.

Nokia and Türk Telekom agreed to cooperate to produce "baseband" equipment that emits signals, considered the brain of a base station. Türk Telekom became the first operator to integrate ULAK Turkey's first national LTE base station into its network.

Prior to the transition to LTE on April 1, Türk Telekom's senior management launched GIGA LTE.

Türk Telekom once again made its mark on the Bilişim 500 awards. Türk Telekom ranked first among 500 companies in terms of sales revenue, and also came first at the 17th edition of the Bilişim 500 Survey's "Communication Technologies" ranking. Türk Telekom also garnered the "Telecoms Company Main Category Winner of the Year" and "Internet Services Category Winner of the Year" awards.

Türk Telekom, Turkey's leading communication and entertainment Technology Company introduced its new youth brand Selfy.

Türk Telekom's Board of Directors appointed Paul Doany, a well-known figure in the sector, as CEO as of September 26, 2016.

Türk Telekom became the first Turkish operator to test Narrowband IoT technology on its own network, in collaboration with Nokia.

On December 12, 2016, organizational changes made in order to increase efficiency and effectiveness under the integrated Türk Telekom structure were announced.

Türk Telekom International joined the Sea- Me-We-5 consortium as a full member in 2015, and the cable system started to give service at the end of 2016, linking 17 countries in Asia to Europe over a distance of 20,000 kilometers.

Türk Telekom received a payment service license from the BRSA (Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency) for its subsidiary TT Ödeme Hizmetleri A.Ş. (Payment Services), established to provide new generation payment services to its customers.

As per the Official Gazette dated February 5, 2017, the Council of Ministers decided to transfer the Undersecretariat of the Treasury’s 6.68% stake (5% Group B and 1.68% Group D shares) at Türk Telekom to the Turkish Wealth Fund. The share transfer took place following the decision.

The 5G Center of Excellence, designed by Türk Telekom’s research and development subsidiary Argela, opened in Ankara with the purpose of developing domestic 5G technologies.

The “Brand Finance Telecoms 500” 2017 list was announced at the Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona. Türk Telekom was named “Turkey’s most valuable telecommunications brand” on the Telecoms 500 list for 9 consecutive years.

An internet penetration campaign was launched across Turkey. In order to ensure the campaign to access wider population, Türk Telekom offered its brand new internet package to all internet service providers in Turkey via its wholesales channel.

Kars took its place among smart cities. Türk Telekom has transformed Kars into Smart City, introducing services such as free Wi-Fi, smart traffic management systems, smart lighting, and smart pass systems, city access points (information points), and security cameras.

The international Clear5G project, in which Türk Telekom and its subsidiary Argela are participants, demonstrated success to receive grant underHORIZON 2020, the European Commission’s civilian research and innovation program with the largest budget in the international arena. Türk Telekom became the first Turkish telecommunications operator to participate in an international consortium in the field of 5G and beyond technologies.

Türk Telekom started a new era for its “Türk Telekom Prime” brand, which offers its customers exclusive services. Türk Telekom Prime has based its new brand promise on the concepts of “liberating, comfortable, and creating own space and time”, under the new slogan “Multiply Life with Türk Telekom Prime”. Türk Telekom Prime was relaunched with its new logo.

Two of Turkey’s well-established institutions, Türk Telekom and PTT renewed Pttcell collaboration, and extended their partnership in mobile communications field, launched in 2013, for a further 5 years. Under the agreement, Türk Telekom will continue to provide network and technical infrastructure for the mobile communication services that PTT offers with its “Pttcell” brand, until 2022.

Türk Telekom was selected as the most valuable brand in Turkey once again. In “Turkey’s Most Valuable Brands of Turkey 100” list prepared annually by international brand assessment company Brand Finance, Türk Telekom increasing its brand value by more than 11% to USD 2.6 billion, was selected as the most valuable brand in Turkey.

Avea-Vodafone Evrensel İş Ortaklığı, established by Türk Telekom and Vodafone with its best bid won the tender for delivering mobile communication infrastructure in 1,472 locations with no mobile infrastructure. The project will be carried out within the scope of the Universal Service Fund, under the leadership of the Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communication.

Türk Telekom again won the top spot at the 18th year of the Bilişim 500 (IT 500) event. Türk Telekom maintained its leader position among 500 IT companies in terms of sales revenue, winning the 2016 Grand Prize, “Number One in the Turkish IT Sector 2016”. Türk Telekom also won “Number One in the Internet Services Category”, “ Number One in the Telecoms Company Main Category” and “Number One in Communication Technologies” awards.

Türk Telekom launched its platform-based digital keyboard TAMBU, delivered with the vision of fostering domestic and national technologies. As a first in the world, Türk Telekom simultaneously launched the demos for its 5G and Next Generation PON with Nokia.

Türk Telekom has joined forces with General Electric (GE) to accelerate the digital transformation of Turkish industry, and provide the latter with the advantages offered by the Internet of Industrial Things within the scope of the ‘Industry 4.0’ revolution. Türk Telekom and GE Digital via ‘Digital Transformation of Industrial Companies’ business partnership agreement targets, to provide digital transformation consultancy to Turkish industrial corporations, particularly those in the ‘Top 500’ list.

On the night of September 25th at Istanbul’s Harbiye Open Air Theater, Türk Telekom launched its renewed and technologically upgraded digital music platform, Muud.

In an international step supporting the government’s ambition to develop domestic and national technologies, Türk Telekom became a partner member of ONF (Open Networking Foundation), a US-based open platform that includes global technology giants among its members. By participating in the management of ONF, Türk Telekom now has the opportunity to play a pioneering role in 5G and innovative technologies, and introduce software defined networks and virtualization technologies to Turkey.

In Turkey’s telecommunications sector, Türk Telekom became the first company to establish a Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) Company. Türk Telekom announced that, via its CVC company, it would invest in and become a partner to start-ups and/or mid-sized scalable enterprises that has the growth potential and proven business model via extending its own resources to create value from the growth of these companies.

Türk Telekom became a platinum member of the Linux Foundation project Open Network Automation Platform (ONAP), which unites leading global operators and technology providers. Türk Telekom is the only Turkish company to participate in this platform, which develops products and services for the automation, design and management of communication networks and virtual functions. On the platform, Türk Telekom aims to contribute to the development and growth of open source innovation and automation systems on a global scale.