Turksat CEO Osman Dur believes satellite communications will play a vital role on the Turkish communications landscape, and the government-owned operator is involved in many projects to bring higher quality of services to the citizens of Turkey.

Turksat, which recently ordered its new Turksat 3A satellite, "has acquired many e-government projects assigned by the Turkish cabinet," Dur told Satellite News. "There are around 19 pilot projects, and these will be laid out in terms of applications and how they can aid the Turkish people. The aim is to save them time and energy. For example, our government has put a lot of money into e-applications such as the e-billing process for social security. The savings that have been made work out to around $2 billion. So, for certain e-government projects, we will be managing them and trying to save a lot of money for the Turkish citizens."

Turksat 3A

In February, Turksat awarded a contract to Alcatel Alenia Space for the in-orbit delivery of Turksat 3A in early 2008. The spacecraft will be based on Alcatel’s Spacebus 4000B2 platform and carry 24 Ku-band transponders. Turksat 3A will replace Turksat 1C at 42� East to provide telecommunication services and direct TV broadcasting to Turkey, Europe and Central Asia. Turksat 3A’s coverage of Turkey has been specially designed to provide very efficient gain for broadband applications like VSAT.

However, the new satellite is significant in a number of other ways, as Turksat is getting more involved in the satellite construction on all levels. "The bidding process has been managed by our own engineers for the first time in Turkey," Dur said. "This has been done by engineers and advisors. We have done the procurement preparation process. We have made an agreement with Alcatel Alenia Space in France, that as part of the Turksat 3A procurement, there will be a technology transfer program."

As part of the program, Turksat will send more than 20 engineers to France to work on the satellite, with the goal of having some work on future Turksat spacecraft performed in Turkey in an assembly integration testing (AIT) facility.

"We have a program called National Satellite and Space Technology program," Dur said. "As part of the program, we have a satellite design and manufacturing process. We will be starting this process and we are going to have the AIT facilities synchronized with the Turksat 3A program in Turkey. So, other satellites will be able to be built there."

Turksat also will be a strong player in the developing broadband space in Turkey, where broadband penetration is still relatively low compared to other major western European nations. A deal with Turkey’s Ministry of Justice calls for Turksat to provide about 1,000 broadband remote sites.

"They are all broadband value added services," Dur said. "The Ministry of Education is also interested in VSAT applications. The Ministry of Health is also interested in terms of telemedicine projects. We have almost finished a deal with the Coastal Administration of Turkey."

The operator is working hard to explain the benefits of satellite technology to governmental organizations, Dur said. "What we are trying to do is bring to the attention of government officials how valuable broadband technology through satellite is going to be," he said. "Awareness is increasing significantly. The more awareness is grown, the more applications we will see in the short-term. If you do not see ADSL in more areas of Turkey in the short term, then satellite broadband access will play a more significant role. But no matter what it is, we will push the government market, because that is mainly our own area. We are government owned, privately operated company. Government broadband access will be growing."

Significant Player

The company is a very significant player on the Turkish communications landscape and in particular, reducing the digital divide within the country. "As a result of us being owned by the government, we play a role of serving the public interest in the telecoms sector for satellite services in a very optimum way," Dur said. "So people should be able to access whatever we are providing to the community. The digital gap is getting bigger every day between developed areas and the under-developed areas. We want to address that issue and reduce this divide."

Improving the quality of life in rural areas is one of the key challenges facing the operator, Dur said. "Private companies do not see a profitable opportunity to grow these rural areas," he said. "If they don’t want to go, we use government funding to do these projects. It is very dynamically motivated response. We bring things forward in these areas. We have many success stories in Turkey."

Contact, Hatan Sarkdemir, Turksat, e-mail, [email protected]