Mehmet Can Saraçoğlu

Bilgi Teknolojileri ve İletişim Kurumu (BTK) The most important structural transformation in Turkey’s telecommunication sector is the Law No.4502 amending the basic laws, regulating the sector. With this law, Telecommunications Authority has been established in 2000; policy and strategy establishment and regulation as well as administrative functions were separated. Policy and strategy establishment task was naturally left to Ministry of Transportation, while the regulation functions were left to Telecommunications Authority. This law not only established a full competition and a transparent licensing policy but also defined the monopoly period of Turkish Telecommunications Co. and enabled the commercial independence of Turkish Telecom. with clear provisions on main issues such as pricing and interconnections. The main purpose of the Information Technologies and Communication Authority is to ensure a complete liberalization in the sector. While the Authority has a regulation-focused function in the liberalization process; its regulation function will be kept to minimum at the end of this process; however it will pursue the inspection and arbitration functions in an efficient way to ensure sustainable competition in the sector. The establishment of the Authority has an importance for ensuring continuance, order, reliability and transparency in the sector. Additionally, the establishment of a sustainable competition will also enable new enterprises and investors to take their places in the sector, resulting in an increase the employment rates and contributions to the country’s budget.