Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Deputy Minister Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan attended the Access Providers Union Symposium. In his speech, Sayan touched upon what needs to be done to create a strong and solid sector.
Speaking at the opening of the symposium, Sayan stated that a connected life is increasingly taking place in people's lives. Sayan shared the information, “When we look at the ‘connection’ data in our country, we see that the number of broadband internet subscribers, which was around 6 million in 2008, has increased approximately fourteen-fold to 85.7 million in the second quarter of 2021. The amount of data used by fixed broadband subscribers has increased by 39.11% compared to the second quarter of the previous year, reaching 10.7 million TBytes. Mobile internet usage, which increased by approximately 31% compared to the same half of the previous year, reached approximately 2.1 million TBytes by the end of the first half of 2021. As of the first half of 2021, the number of fiber subscribers has increased by approximately 22.8% to 4.3 million. In addition to all these, our fiber length has increased by approximately 10% compared to the first half of the previous year, exceeding 445 thousand km in the first half of 2021. All these indicators show that our country is becoming more ‘connected’ in line with the global world.”
Emphasizing that having advanced technology alone is not enough, Sayan said, “At the same time, participating in the development of standards for these technologies and conducting R&D processes with domestic capabilities are considered important and strategic for countries. In line with the ‘National Technology Move’ targets initiated by our President, we consider domestic and national production as indispensable in our sector.”
Speaking also about the transition to IPv6, Sayan said, “I would like to emphasize that the studies on the transition to IPv6 in our country were essentially started simultaneously with pioneering applications in the world. Various activities have been carried out in our country since 2009 to ensure the transition to IPv6. On the other hand, factors such as the ‘invisibility’ of the transition to IPv6 from the end-user perspective, the fact that existing networks are largely IPv4-based, and operational difficulties in managing IPv4 and IPv6 together are slowing down the IPv6 transition process. Nevertheless, the necessity of a stable and sustainable internet infrastructure brought by emerging new technologies such as 5G, IoT, and M2M highlights the importance of progress in the IPv6 transition.”
Deputy Minister Sayan: Vulnerabilities Demonstrate the Importance of Zero Trust Approach in the Cyber World
Sayan stated, “One issue that came to the agenda with the initiation of IPv6 transition efforts is cybersecurity. At the point we have reached today, on one hand, the frequency of cyber attacks is increasing, and on the other hand, these attacks are becoming more complex, widespread, and difficult to detect. The changes in work and infrastructure models caused by the Covid-19 pandemic worldwide are weakening the effectiveness of existing cybersecurity measures. This global situation enables cyber attackers to carry out cyber attacks using more advanced methods and techniques. Another important point is the existence of vulnerabilities that can significantly affect operations even in systems considered secure. This situation once again shows us how important the zero trust approach, accepted in the cybersecurity world, is. We are making efforts to keep cybersecurity risks in our country at a manageable and controllable level with this awareness. Turkey has made significant progress in this regard through the efforts of our Ministry and our Institution. While our Institution fulfills its duties in terms of regulations for the electronic communications sector in our country, it also continues its activities for ensuring national cybersecurity through USOM within its structure,” thereby drawing attention to the importance of cybersecurity.
President Karagözoğlu: Transition to IPv6 Should Be Made as Soon as Possible
Information Technologies and Communication Authority President Ömer Karagözoğlu also attended the symposium. Touching on the importance of access providers in the sector, Karagözoğlu said, “In every aspect of our lives, all our citizens connect to the world as subscribers of any one of you and conduct their economic and social activities through your networks. The COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused fundamental changes in our daily lives recently, has once again shown how important our sector is in many areas worldwide, from virtual meetings to health services, from the business world to education.”
Stating that “for us to transition together to many different applications requiring collaboration and interaction, such as driverless (autonomous) vehicles, virtual and augmented reality, telemedicine, unmanned aerial vehicles, advanced Internet of Things,” operators need to work more equipped and qualified, Karagözoğlu said, “We also closely follow sectoral developments in the international arena and develop our regulations accordingly. The changes made in the authorization legislation are changes aimed at further institutionalizing the operators in the electronic communications sector, which is critically important for our country and our citizens, as I mentioned earlier. These define the minimum standards and the qualifications that an operator must have at a very basic level. With the changes made, the institutionalization of operators, who are one of the most important actors in our sector, having the necessary financial adequacy, considering consumer rights and interests, and fulfilling obligations in terms of public order and national security are targeted. We know that for our sector to become stronger, first and foremost, our operators need to be stronger,” he said.
Stating that the transition to IPv6 is an important agenda item, Karagözoğlu said, “With the widespread use of digital technologies and smart devices, developing countries have the opportunity to strengthen their technological infrastructures and close the gap with developed countries. It is clear that the prerequisite for utilizing this opportunity and strengthening digital economies is a secure, continuous, stable, and widespread internet infrastructure accessible to all citizens. At this point, ensuring the continuity and stability of the internet is of great importance. It would not be wrong to say that nations utilizing the capabilities offered by IPv6 in internet infrastructure will be better prepared to evaluate economic opportunities in innovative areas such as 5G, Internet of Things, smart grids, smart infrastructures, and smart buildings. New technologies like IoT are the most important indicator that there will be a constant increase in IP traffic. It is predicted that the IP traffic expected to be produced in 2022 will exceed the cumulative traffic produced in the first 32 years of the internet.”
Karagözoğlu concluded his speech by saying, “We are aware of the concerns of our operators who have started IPv6 transition efforts despite hesitations on issues such as security, operational difficulties, and capacity development. At this point, we have stated that instead of postponing the transition to IPv6, it should be started as soon as possible and experience gained, and our operators are currently conducting pilot studies at the point reached. We are closely following the expansion of the scope of pilot studies and their continuation. Because we know that we no longer have the luxury to delay and postpone the transition to IPv6. I would like to express our hope that these efforts will be accelerated and intensified in the upcoming period.”