Türk Telekom is the incumbent fixed line operator in Turkey; how do you differentiate yourself in the market?
At Türk Telekom, we position ourselves as the leading communication and convergence technologies company. We strive to lead the market with the value we create for our customers, and also invest in innovative products and services for them. We put our customers at the centre of all our strategies. We thus maintain their loyalty and their satisfaction, which is the main driver in our investments and innovations for our customers. This is also how we differentiate ourselves, and what we have in mind while innovating.
In fixed voice, we developed the ‘No Place Like Home’ concept, which combines advantageous tariffs with value-added services like health and home insurance, and home security. This allowed us to complement voice with value-added services and to form a platform where we could generate more value for our customers. We pursue the same strategy for corporate customers to offer them with advantageous voice tariffs. We are also working hard on fixed data for innovative data products to grow the market and taking steps towards innovative cloud services for different segments.
We focus on enabling our customers to collaborate, communicate, and access information or media on any device in a cost-effective manner – in order to help them manage and engage in personal, social and business life anywhere. Convergence constitutes the main part of Türk Telekom’s strategy. We believe convergent bundles including fixed voice, mobile voice, broadband and other services will make Türk Telekom stronger. We support this process with the necessary investments, which have already started to bear fruit, such as developing value-creating technologies products.
We see the future in convergence technologies, which make life easier, support social development and contribute to quality of life. This is also our motivation for concentrating on convergence technologies and taking the lead in this field. Innovative technologies and applications, especially convergence technologies, provide operators with many opportunities to offer their customers value-added services.
We believe one of our key assets in creating value for customers is our quality staff, who work in 81 provinces across the country. Improving and supporting our employees has been a major investment area for us with Türk Telekom Academy, which we founded to train them. Having recently been pronounced a centre of excellence by International Telecom Union, Türk Telekom Academy now engages in region-wide training programmes as well.
How are you transforming your business processes according to sustainability principals?
Acting on economic, social and environmental responsibility as a good corporate citizen, our goal is to create value for society in the same way we create value with our products and services. Sustainability is adopted in all business processes at Türk Telekom as part of company policy.
We implement sustainability in everything – from the way we conduct our business to the quality of our products. While fulfilling our responsibilities to the community and the future, we also create value for our customers and business partners. We’re committed to including our 25,000 employees in 81 provinces in this process.
We view sustainability not as a task that we are ‘obligated’ to carry out; on the contrary, we deem it a company policy, which should be shared by each of our 25,000 employees as a team with common responsibility and enthusiasm. This transformation in our business processes in line with sustainability principles provides an important opportunity for the perception of Türk Telekom’s identity.
The latest step in our sustainability process is the measurement of our Carbon Footprint. We became the first telecommunication company in Turkey that measured and reported its carbon emissions to the Carbon Disclosure Project. The Carbon Disclosure Project aims to inform corporate investors about the greenhouse gas emission amounts and risk management policies on climate change of publicly listed companies all around the world.
Türk Telekom stands out in Turkey for its increasing brand value: for the third time in a row you were selected as the company with the most valuable brand portfolio. What have you done in recent years to increase your brand value?
As a result of our efforts, for the last three years we have succeeded in coming out on top of the “Turkey’s Most Valuable Brands” survey organised by Brand Finance, the leading brand valuation company.
We believe that the brand value achieved by Turkey’s leading communication and convergence technologies company Türk Telekom underlies its investments in innovation, R&D, and new technologies, as well as value-added products and services focusing on customer satisfaction. In a vast range that extends from the value-added products we offer to our customers in the field of convergence and communication to the nationwide social responsibility projects, we ensure that the Türk Telekom brand achieves sustainable growth. These activities also contribute in our brand value growth.
Our service approach, based on adding value to the lives of our customers and continuously developing our quality, also contributes significantly in the strengthening of our brand value.
