ISTANBUL - Turkey's leading telecommunications company Turk Telekom will turn Istanbul into a "telecom hub" thanks to its acquiring international telecom giant Invitel.
Invitel International provides telecommunications services in central and southeastern Europe with its 27,000 km optical fiber network in 16 European countries.
Last week, Turk Telekom signed an agreement with Invitel to acquire 100 percent of the company's shares for 221 million Euros.
The agreement will turn Turkey into a voice and data bridge between Europe and the Middle East, while it is expected to constitute a strong step for Turk Telekom towards the European and global markets.
Commenting on the recent purchase in an interview with AA, Turk Telekom's Director General Paul Doany said acquiring Invitel's shares was his company's first international purchase.
Doany said Turk Telekom had made a world-wide reputation by exporting its technologies to the whole world, moreover, it had recently become a remarkable power as a global actor in telecommunications infrastructure.
Describing such improvement as an important step not only for his company but for the whole sector in Turkey, Doany said Turk Telekom's purchasing an international optical fiber backbone would turn Turkey into a significant centre in its region just like its unique position with the pipelines.
Turkey could become a base that connected the countries in its east to Europe, Doany said.
Noting that many telecom companies in the Far East and Middle East launched their connections with Europe and America via underwater cables, Doany said such connections could break down from time to time and their repair could be hard.
Doany said purchasing Invitel would provide Turk Telekom with a more qualified and secure line that would help it achieve the same goals via a land connection.
Moreover, Invitel Holdings' CEO Martin Lea said his company preferred Turk Telekom as a purchaser as it had the necessary vision for growth and the resources for investments.
Lea said Turk Telekom would become a strategic optical fiber service provider that connected the operators in the Middle East, Europe and North America, just like Turkey's position as a cultural bridge between Europe and Asia.
Turk Telekom group provides integrated telecommunication services from PSTN, GSM to wide band internet. The group companies have 17.3 millions of PSTN customers, 6 millions of ADSL customers and 12.6 million GSM customers as of Mach 31, 2009.
Turk Telekom, who is the owner of the 99.9% of shares of the companies TTNET, Argela, Innova, Sebit A.S. and AssisTT, is also the owner of 81% of the shares of Avea, which is one of the three GSM operators in Turkey. Turk Telekom also supports Albtelecom in Albania.
The 55% of the shares of Turk Telekom belongs to Oger Telekomunikasyon A.S. and the 30% of the shares belongs to Undersecretariat of Treasure of Turkey. The remaining 15% of shares has been offered to public. (