The move will enable Superonline, a subsidiary of mobile operator Turkcell, to offer carriers access to Tata’s global IP backbone via Istanbul. It claims the connection will offer higher access speeds and more direct regional links to global internet exchanges.
Tata operates one of the world’s largest subsea cable networks and a Tier 1 IP network, providing connectivity to over 200 countries across 400 PoPs.
In March, the company claimed it had completed a worldwide fibre-optic cable network connection, after announcing the launch of its TGN Eurasia cable connecting Europe to India through Egypt. The company has since gone on to launch a global low latency network connecting financial trading capitals in Asia, the US and the UK.
For Superonline, the move takes it another step closer to its goal of establishing Istanbul as the region’s internet exchange centre. In March, the company was involved in launching Istanbul’s first internet peering platform through collaboration with six other Turkish service providers and later that month also connected to Interoute’s pan-European fibre-optic network.
Furthermore it is involved in the $500 million Regional Cable Network (RCN) project, a terrestrial network stretching from the UAE’s Fujairah through Riyadh, Amman and Syria before ending in Turkey due to be completed in Q3 of this year.
Murat Erkan, CEO of Turkcell Superonline, said that the latest partnership with Tata will further strengthen Turkey’s role as a gateway between the Middle East, Central Asia and Europe: “To utilise this strategic position and to change the traditional silk road into a ’fibre road’, we have invested in creating a 30,000km fibre network within the country. We believe our investments together with our new internet accessibility seamlessly connected to the Tata Communications' network will greatly contribute to the region’s internet services.”
