The panel, which was discussing colocation and data centres in the region, identified that there remains a lack of local content in Turkey.
Ivo Ivanov, executive board member at DE-CIX, said that pricing and regulation are also holding the market back in Turkey. “There is a reason why Sofia - which isn’t far away from Turkey - has been successful and Istanbul hasn’t,” he commented.
DE-CIX is opening its internet exchange in Istanbul this week in a bid to provide neutral interconnection and peering points for ISPs across Turkey, Iran, the Caucasus region and the Middle East.
Ivanov hopes the internet exchange will encourage the development of local content in Turkey: “We believe that we will be able to attract more Turkish content players. The data centres will be full and the carriers will get more business, which will compensate for loss of traditional services,” he added.
The panel was moderated by Andrew Kloeden, principal at Analysys Mason, and also featured Ali Amiri, EVP of carrier and wholesale services at Etisalat, and Alessandro Talotta, chairman and CEO at TI Sparkle.
