We are going through a significant transformation for the survival of mobile operators, companies that offer telecoms infrastructure. Operators crave the good old days of profit, while constantly increasing price pressures and competition are adversely affecting giants like Nokia, Siemens, Cisco, Ericsson, and Huawei. While mobile and fixed infrastructure are united, operators are trying to create their own venture ecosystems to survive against the internet giants.

At the Mobile World Congress (MWC) organized by the GSM Association in Barcelona, operators must take the right steps to survive before investing in 5G. Operators are testing different ways in the market with subscribers who will be connected to the network via 8 billion SIM cards in 2020. Turkcell and Türk Telekom, who tried two different methods in terms of their human resource, financial and management capabilities, introduced their targets at the MWC and signed global cooperation agreements. Operators increased their internet revenues against falling text messages and speech revenues.

Investment companies

Although the future plans of Turkcell and Türk Telekom may look different, the main strategy of both institutions is to focus on entrepreneurs. Therefore, they established two companies under the name of Turkcell Lifecell Ventures and Türk Telekom TT Ventures. Although the two companies have different ways of proceeding, they are moving with a different fiction.

After 5G and regulations, internet connection will not be enough for operators. Then there will be two ways ahead for them. The future of both methods depends on the success of the venture ecosystem to be created. So, if they can manage to be the right address for the enterprises, their vision will come to life.

Smart grid is the future

Turk Telekom CEO Dr. Paul Doany said the operators provide service for the customers who pay TL 100 ($26) or TL 1 million ($261,528) on the same mobile network. With regard to the smart grid architecture developed by Argela, Doany said Argela's global product ProgRAN, a technology that shapes the structure of 5G, effectively slices the existing mobile network and more efficiently distributes the capacity that exists in dense places, adding that Argela successfully integrated the ProgRAN product into Telefonica, Verizon and Orange, the world's leading telecom operators, in 2017. "In our smart grid, we will also focus on vertical areas like education, health and energy. We will present agile and creative solutions of entrepreneurs to our customers for services to be offered in these smart grids," he added.

Turkcell Lifecell proposal

While Turkcell focused on its digital services three years ago, the tax rates of 5 percent and 1 percent, which were used to promote mobile internet, were a significant advantage. Turkcell used this advantage to create global digital services and create a new road map. The company focused on developing digital services such as Fizy, TV +, BiP, Lifebox, Dergilik on a global scale. Turkcell General Manager Kaan Terzioğlu said the way to compete with over-the-top media services (OTTs), which have become the technology giants reaching billions of users worldwide in the last 10 years using Telecom infrastructure, is to combine telecom and OTT capabilities. Explaining their strategies, Terzioğlu said with the transformation that they launched in 2015, they did not only merge their mobile and fixed infrastructure, but also put the services that they created by combining telecom and OTT capabilities on it. "At the point we have reached today, our services such as fizy, TV +, BiP, Lifebox and Dergilik outpaced their rivals in Turkey. Now is the time to bring this experience to the telecom sector in the world," Terzioğlu said.

Why the smart network infrastructure?When asked why they turned to smart networks rather than digital services even though they invested in services such as games, music and Tivibu in the first period, Paul Doany said it is very difficult to play games in the global competition with regard to digital services and that you can only play the game in your own home, suggesting that a digital service stops being popular after a couple of years.

"Focusing on verticals such as energy, health and education gives more advantages to telecom operators in the long run," he noted.Risks and benefitsTurkey's unique market and regulatory conditions both bring out local opportunities and create risks. Operators should be ready for global competition. The customers, identity and payment data of the operators provide a significant advantage.

It is not easy to compete with internet giants in global competition in terms of services. For this, not only the regulation and data policies but also investment in the entrepreneurs is required in order to attract the users. Türk Telekom and Turkcell Venture Capital companies took the first step. But this must continue.Take precautions for notification addictionYou have a new email, a new video on the channel you are subscribed to on YouTube, likes and comments on the photo you shared on Instagram. For all of these, there is a notification on the phone screen that causes your glance to shift. The romantic period on the internet is already over but we are still sleeping with our door open.

Those who use double lock when entering the house, or those who buy bottles of water instead of drinking tap water, why do they prefer sleeping with their door open on the internet? These are the same people who do not produce solutions to notifications, viruses and hacker attacks on their smartphones and tablets. How does a society that becomes almost paranoid about bugging and monitoring manage to be reckless enough to say yes to everything when setting up an application? How do we manage to be someone who opens their door to every notification they receive, and opens every message, regardless of whether it is safe or untrustworthy or get their social media accounts hacked? The answer is actually very simple. We act like a die-hard romantic on the internet.

It is imperative to remember romantic periods on the internet to find out why. Many years ago, we had long thought about the concept of "Internet Citizenship," having dreams with a group of friends. We even prepared a Facebook page on Internet Citizenship. The chaotic nature of the internet gave us romantic dreams.

Ismail Polat from Kadir Has University New Media Department and I tried to make the internet a constitutional right. Actually, I see how naïve the things we thought were. Even though there is no constitutional right now, the work of Internet Technologies and Communication Committees on Internet quota has alleviated some of the ruthless limits on internet usage.

The social bill of mobile internet, advertising and free internet did not use to stand out as much as today. Our doors were always open to everything from the internet. Is not there anyone who think about taking measures against notifications that now seem like phone harassment, increase the internet billing and scatter our personal data? We pay the price of ignorance, innocence or imprudence without taking personal precautions on the internet regarding personal data with heavy addiction. Let's look at the consequences of loving the internet so much without shutting down the notifications that have paved the way for this new addiction.

There are wolves in sheep's clothing

Finally, new campaigns have emerged that will put the use of the internet above the European average. However, just like in many issues, we are making efforts for those who will get acquainted with the internet for the first time, while preparing for those who are kneaded in internet culture. It is imperative to create new civil structures in this regard. What is done in order to raise an awareness of personal privacy and cyber-bullying on the internet is not enough. Usually this field is full of wolves in sheep's clothing. First of all, it is necessary to describe the damage created by "free" use.

10 notifications consuming internet and time

Email: If you do not have to see every incoming email instantly, turn off your email notifications immediately on your phone.

Shopping Apps: Do not let the apps you use for shopping or discount campaigns send you constant notifications.

Location Information: The origin of the notifications is triggered by the location information. Do not turn on location information for any unnecessary applications. Remember that location information is the biggest enemy of battery life. Moreover, the location info of people doing sensitive tasks is sometimes accessible through these applications.

Instagram: You are already spending time on your most frequently used applications. Do not make yourself paranoid by turning on notifications. Do not let every like and every follow to consume your internet package and time.

Twitter: Dealing with what happens on social networks may have become a part of your life. However, you do not have to receive every follow, every retweet or favorite knowledge at the moment. Then you can turn off the location and notification on Twitter in peace of mind.

YouTube Videos: YouTube notifications can be annoying for you or your children also using the application. Especially, it is not difficult for your children, who have been turned into zombies by YouTube influencers, to fall into the notification trap. Children are able to fulfill every instruction they have received from them precisely.

Health Apps: Smart clock and health apps send you a lot of notifications. We recommend that you only use this apps when you are doing sports. Do not let yourself get distracted by unnecessary notifications.

Instant Messages: They are "instant messages" as the name implies. So, does it not distract you to constantly receive instant messages while you are having dinner? At least on some special occasions, you can put your phone on "do not disturb" mode.

Bank and Finance notifications: If you do not need to track your bank and finance information as part of your business, turn off your notifications. Moreover, turning on location information is quite a reckless move. If you are not managing a million-dollar portfolio in the stock exchange, you do not have to turn on the notifications.

News Excerpts: Okay, if you are a professional journalist who follows every event instantly, you can turn on agency notifications. But if you do not want the news to constantly harass your phone screen, I suggest you turn off news notifications.