The Wireless Broadband Alliance is thrilled to welcome Turknet, who joined the WBA earlier in 2025! Founded in 1996, Turknet has been disrupting the industry since its inception as Turkey’s next-generation internet service provider. A pioneer in numerous innovations in the sector in Turkey, Turknet offers symmetrical speeds of up to 1000 Mbps with GigaFiber, its own fiber infrastructure. In addition, Turknet enhances in-home connectivity with TurkNet SmartyFi — an AI-powered smart Wi-Fi solution that delivers fast, reliable, and intelligently optimized internet across every corner of the home. Focused on social benefit, Turknet accompanies individuals and businesses in Turkey on their digitalization journeys with its uncommitted, simple, digital, and customer-focused service model, and believes in the transformative power of the internet. Ahmet Atakan Alkan, Head of Network Services at Turknet, recently sat down with us for a ‘welcome’ interview.
Ahmet Atakan Alkan, Head of Network Services at Turknet
Can you briefly introduce Turknet?
Since 1996, Turknet has been shaping Türkiye’s digital transformation as an independent and innovative technology leader, taking on a pioneering role at every stage of the internet. With domestic resources and talent, we continue to grow both in investments and operations. Guided by our customer-centric service approach, unconventional business model, and dynamic structure attuned to change, we lead the sector’s development.
Today, we serve more than 1.3 million subscribers. With our own infrastructure, Turknet GigaFiber delivers symmetrical internet speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps to residential users in 11 cities and corporate customers in 21 cities. We also provide equal, strong, and fast Wi-Fi coverage throughout the home with our AI-powered smart Wi-Fi solution, Turknet SmartyFi.
Beyond home internet, we support technology production by young people and entrepreneurs, providing Turknet GigaFiber to 31 technoparks and 129 public universities. We rank among Türkiye’s top 100 IT companies. We see the internet not as something that imposes limits, but as a space that liberates, equalizes, and democratizes. With this mindset, we eliminate barriers such as contracts, data caps, and early termination fees. We offer users the maximum speed their infrastructure allows—unlimited, contract-free, and at a single price.
We focus on the human-centered side of technology, and we summarize our values in four points: simplicity, true end-to-end digitalization, customer centricity, and the ability to combine competitive pricing with high performance.
Were there any key developments for Turknet in 2025—important announcements, product launches, etc.?
Today, thanks to our scale, vision, and resources, we have become one of Türkiye’s leading investors in telecom infrastructure. Since 2019, we have reached nearly 2.3 million households in eight provinces with our own fiber network, and we aim to increase this number to 2.5 million by the end of 2025. With our transparent, contract-free pricing model, we stand out in the industry.
In fiber infrastructure investments, we are rapidly advancing toward sector leadership in terms of new household coverage. In this context, we recently signed a strategic partnership with SOCAR Fiber. Through this collaboration, we are integrating the 1,850-kilometer SOCAR Fiber express route, which runs along the TANAP natural gas pipeline from the Georgian border to the Greek border, into our backbone network. Passing near cities such as Bursa, Eskişehir, Ankara, Sivas, Erzurum, and Kars, this line provides high redundancy and reliability, as it is laid buried on both sides of the pipeline. With this investment, we will expand our FTTH (Fiber-to-the-Home) infrastructure to more cities, bringing high speed, low latency, and strong connection performance to wider audiences.
We already operate a metro fiber network in more than 25 cities and provide services to Türkiye’s major data centers. Through our SOCAR Fiber partnership, we are now able to deliver low-latency intercity and international connections to these centers. By integrating our existing infrastructure with the SOCAR Fiber route, we will also enable cross-border connectivity extending to Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, and Iraq. With our partners in Iraq, we will establish a new land route between the Gulf countries and Europe, offering an alternative to the Red Sea corridor. Additionally, by extending our network to İzmir and the Aegean coast, we will be ready to connect potential submarine cables landing in the region.
In addition to this strategic partnership, we are accelerating our technology investments with a customer-centric approach. We recently introduced Harmony, our next-generation AI-powered product for call center operations. Harmony transcribes voice conversations between our customers and Net Experts into text, which is then analyzed in depth. These insights help us further improve the customer experience. Developed entirely in-house by Turknet engineers, Harmony converts audio recordings into text within minutes, enabling quality-focused analytics. It breaks down conversations second by second and subjects them to multi-layered audit processes.
Another milestone in 2025 was our collaboration with Tencent Games. Thanks to our high-speed, low-latency internet infrastructure, we have become a preferred brand among gamers. Through this partnership, we now deliver a smoother, uninterrupted experience for globally popular titles such as PUBG Mobile, Honor of Kings, and Call of Duty Mobile to users in Türkiye.
This year also marked an important milestone in our brand story with the launch of our new brand identity. As Türkiye’s next-generation internet operator, we updated our brand identity, with the most powerful symbol of this transformation being our renewed Turknet logo. Through the new logo and visual language, we aim to reflect our transformative role in the industry more boldly and inclusively.
Our new slogan is “Internet, Turknet.” In today’s world, where the internet is at the center of life, users expect more freedom and uninterrupted experiences. Brand research conducted in 2022 showed that Turknet is perceived in the market as “liberating, innovative, and rewriting the rules.” Our new identity seeks to bring this strong positioning to wider audiences.
The new logo, the outcome of eight months of extensive work, is not just a visual change but a visual manifesto that reflects Turknet’s character and passion for technology. Its design codes highlight: the abstract expression of our liberal and innovative brand character, deep purple tones symbolizing passion for technology, dynamic forms representing gigabit speed, and an approach that emphasizes simplicity and modernity. This new identity represents Turknet’s 30 years of experience and vision for digital transformation, while also underscoring values such as customer focus and transparency.
Going forward, we will continue taking pioneering steps in all areas—from infrastructure and technology to customer experience and partnerships—to advance digitalization.
What led Turknet to join the Wireless Broadband Alliance, and what does the company ultimately hope to achieve with its membership?
At Turknet, we place great importance on being part of initiatives that shape the future of the industry. One such initiative is the Wireless Broadband Alliance. The primary reason we joined is to actively contribute to the standardization processes of wireless technologies developing globally. Wi-Fi, 5G, and next-generation wireless solutions have now become critical not only for individual users but also for businesses and smart cities.
We joined the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) as part of our strategic initiative to offer a more seamless and secure internet experience to our users. At the core of this move is the adoption of OpenRoaming, a technology designed to enable automatic and secure connections to public Wi-Fi networks. This membership highlights Turknet’s commitment to innovation and its focus on enhancing customer satisfaction.
We define OpenRoaming as A New Era in Public Wi-Fi. OpenRoaming is a federation service managed by the WBA that allows users to connect to public Wi-Fi hotspots automatically and securely without the need to repeatedly enter usernames and passwords. It functions as a Wi-Fi equivalent of the “roaming” service offered by mobile operators. Once users authenticate their credentials a single time through an Identity Provider (IDP) like Turknet, their devices can automatically connect to any Wi-Fi access point that is part of the OpenRoaming federation (an Access Network Provider-ANP). This connection process occurs securely in the background using robust authentication protocols. As a result, users can enjoy a frictionless and secure internet experience in public venues such as shopping malls, airports, cafes, stadiums, and city centers.
As Turknet, our decision to join the Wireless Broadband Alliance and embrace OpenRoaming aligns directly with our long-term strategic objectives. Perfecting the Customer Experience, Increasing Brand Loyalty, Reinforcing Our Position as an Innovator and Delivering an Integrated 5G Experience. In conclusion, Turknet’s entry into the Wireless Broadband Alliance and its strategic focus on OpenRoaming is more than just a move to simplify access to public Wi-Fi. It is a clear reflection of the company’s customer-centric and innovative vision. This step will make the internet experience for Turknet subscribers more mobile, secure, and seamless, thereby enhancing the company’s competitive edge in the market.
