Turk Telekom

Dr. Mehmet Özdem has more than 23 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, with a strong background spanning investment, planning, operations, quality assurance, and network architecture teams. Throughout his career, he has played key roles in designing, optimizing, and assuring the performance of large-scale mobile and fixed networks. He currently serves as the Network Architecture and Service Management Director and Head of R&D Centers at Turk Telekom, where he leads strategic initiatives that shape the company’s end-to-end network evolution.

In his current role, Dr. Özdem is responsible for defining the architectural structure and long-term roadmaps across all layers of Turk Telekom’s network, including mobile and fixed domains as well as access, transport, and core layers. He leads the strategic planning and integration of next-generation technologies, ensuring alignment with both technical requirements and business objectives. He also heads the Network Project Management Office and oversees mobile and fixed network testing environments, conducting comprehensive validation of emerging technologies to ensure readiness and reliability before live deployment.

Dr. Özdem manages the company’s R&D Centers, actively supporting the innovation ecosystem through publications, patents, and research initiatives, while strengthening university–industry collaboration. His scope also includes the management of key investment and planning domains such as Wi-Fi, Customer Experience Management (CEM), Unified Communications, Value-Added Services, Video Assistant Referee (VAR), IoT, Smart X platforms (Agriculture, Health, Energy), SMS, CDN, and RADIUS. Additionally, he is responsible for network quality assurance, defining network KPIs and KQIs, and developing advanced monitoring interfaces and performance measurement systems to enhance operational excellence.

On the international stage, Dr. Mehmet Özdem serves as Vice President of ITU SG21 and vice president of ITU QSDG study group is a Board Member of the Wireless Broadband Alliance as well as Co-Chair of the Linux Foundation Broadband (LFBB). He also contributes to academia as a part-time lecturer at universities and holds globally recognized certifications including CCIE, PMP, and ITIL. Dr. Özdem is married and has one child, and he continues to drive innovation and quality-focused transformation in the telecommunications sector.