Turkish mobile network giant Turkcell, the world's fastest-growing digital operator, Tuesday introduced its blockchain service for ID Management on the sidelines of Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2019, which is considered one of the world's largest technology fairs and kicked off in Barcelona on Monday.
Blockchain is a new technology that allows organizations to collaborate in a safe environment. This technology can be used for more secure and faster transactions in the telecommunications industry – and Turkcell has successfully expanded the utilization of blockchain services to the industry with roaming clearance, ID management and donation solutions. Turkcell currently shares its blockchain network with Lifecell and Lifecell's Belarus-based telecom operator partner BeST, and is in talks with study groups and other telecom operators to further expand the network.
Turkcell is at the forefront of innovative solutions in personal privacy and data security with blockchain technology. Existing ID Management solutions require users to create different accounts for different platforms or to use personal data the user shared with third parties before. The former requires the user to remember details of each account created, and the latter requires the user to share personal data with a third party not involved in the login process. Turkcell's blockchain solution gives the user control over personal data and ensures personal privacy with GDPR compliant ID Management solution.
ID Management solution stores the information required for verification of users in the blockchain network and removes additional identity verifications – this also enables Turkcell to provide new use-cases to enterprises.
Turkcell's blockchain-enabled donation use-case incorporates the ID Management solution to verify the donation eligibility of people in need. Turkcell helps to rebuild the trust in donations with a secure verification solution. The solution offers an end-to-end Turkcell experience – customers can donate via the communication and life platform BiP and use Paycell as a payment medium.
Turkcell Customer Experience and Information Technologies Executive Vice President Serkan Öztürk stated that customer experience must be in the center of technology to become a digital operator. "Our customers demand transparency and trust in every step of our processes. In this sense, using blockchain technology is essential to improve the customer experience of our digital services and solutions, which remains a top priority in the design of our services. This is why we joined the global blockchain consortium of telecom carriers, the Carrier Blockchain Study Group (CBSG). Our blockchain solutions provide secure digital payments, barter systems, identity verification, and internet of things (IoT) applications. These efforts will help us improve our digital services and raise the bar in customer experience," he said. Turkcell seals $150M loan deal with Swedish credit agency
Turkish mobile network giant Turkcell has signed a new loan agreement that demonstrates the confidence of foreign institutions in both Turkey and the mobile phone operator itself.
At the Mobile World Congress 2019 (MWC2019), which kicked off in Barcelona on Monday, Turkcell inked a 10-year loan agreement with the Swedish Export Credit Agency (EKN), amounting to $150 million.
Turkcell will use this credit for the purpose of financing the products and services that are supplied by Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company, Ericsson. Osman Yılmaz, Turkcell's executive vice president of finance, stated that they continue working on digital exports at a rapid pace. He stressed that within their strategy to protect their business model from risks, they are constantly monitoring both local and international markets for successful liquidity management. Yılmaz regarded this as an important instrument in this scope.
"In liquidity management, financing resource diversification and maturity extension are among our primary targets," he continued. "In this direction, we are able to take very quick action at the point where we think the conditions are appropriate. In an environment where the risk premium has increased, the credit agreement that we have signed today has provided a long-term and cost-effective loan facility, once again showing the confidence in both Turkey and Turkcell."