Information and Communication industry

A growing publishing sector

Turkish publishing industry has been showing a significant improvement in terms of both quality and quantity in the recent years. According to data provided by ISBN Turkish Agency for the year 2017, the number of new book titles produced in Turkey increased by 10.82 per cent. The number of book banderol sold was 407,739,008 with an increase of 0.9 per cent as compared with 2016, while the decrease in the number of books produced without banderol caused a drop in the total number of books for about 6 per cent (as a major move to prevent pirates, the government instituted the 'banderol' system in 2001, which requires that each book for sale be festooned with a 'banderol'  issued by the government, a kind of official sticker of approval).  

The number of books per person dropped from 8.4 to 7.76 in 2017. Turkey maintained its position in the world ranking as 11th in terms of the number of books sold. However, the size of Turkish publishing sector decreased from 2,126 million USD to 1,591 million USD due to the damage caused by amendments in the national exam systems to educational publishing, and Turkey dropped five spots to 16th place in the world publishing sector.  

Turkey applies VAT on books and e-books and electronic magazines and similar periodicals, at the rates of 8 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively. There is no further taxation on them. The electronic publishing industry in Turkey is still under development and growing by a substantial volume.

4.5G technology

Turkey’s Information and Communication industry has one of the world’s leading electronic communications sectors with regard to the number of its fixed, mobile and broadband subscribers. Despite of economic downturn in Turkey in 2016, telecommunication sector maintained the sustainable rising figures through its growth that gained momentum in 2017. The transition to 4.5G technology in April 2016 has a significant role in these results that reveal the strength and potential of the industry. The demographic characteristics of the Turkish population which reveals itself in its large size, youth, urbanization, and interest in high technology services like the upcoming 5G, promises growth and profitability in the telecommunication market.  

Turkish mobile market is one of the most dynamic in the Eurasia, with over 75 million subscribers and about 100 per cent penetration rate. It is a highly competitive market, driven by innovation and quality of service, in which there are three main players: Vodafone Turkey, Turkcell and Turk Telecom. Turkey’s median population age is 30.8 years in 2018, which reflects a millennial’s market, typically characterized as technologically savvy, open and demanding towards innovation and new digital services. 

Vodafone Turkey

Incorporated by the Vodafone Group, Vodafone Turkey was founded in 2006 when the Group completed the acquisition of Telsim. Turkey's second largest mobile communication company has 23.3 million users as of 31 March 2018, the company offers fixed line, mobile telephony, Internet and digital television services to more than 21 million subscribers. As the second biggest direct international investment of Turkey, Vodafone Turkey’s investment has exceeded 12 billion TL since 2006. Currently Vodafone Turkey has 3,172 employees, 1,189 retailer stores and 43,000 stakeholders. 

Vodafone continues to have the widest 4.5G coverage by utilizing more than 10,000 4.5G communication points in the 81 cities of Turkey. The data usage of Vodafone Turkey’s customers has doubled compared to the previous year and increased to 400 petabytes in the 2016/17 period. Smartphone penetration increased by 9 percentage points from the previous year and had reached 72 per cent by the year-end.