Broadband, from Vegas to remote Turkish villages
This week, you have probably seen lots of technology news. You will see more.
The reason being the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Vegas, the biggest technology products show of all; it is the Mecca for technology journalists. Most of the new products for the coming year are launched at this show. But, unlike the rest of the world, Turkish companies are not very keen on taking part in CES. Indeed, there was only one Turkish company who made it in the news from the show.
AirTies will brand devices for sale in Europe, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey, as BitTorrent Certified will also provide existing customers with an easy software upgrade to add BitTorrent features to devices already deployed in the field. Certified device types will include network-attached storage devices (NAS), set-top boxes and popular home router lines. The embedded BitTorrent features will enable consumers to enjoy HD home movies, high-resolution smart-phone videos and photos, and independently produced content on AirTies devices.
“The massive files generated by this latest generation of smart-phones, digital SLRs and HD camcorders are driving demand for NAS and set-top box devices in the home, not to mention better routers. The key is to make these files easily consumable on all of the other devices in your home and make it even easier to share them directly with friends,” said Tuncay Çil, vice president of product management at AirTies.
Hopefully in the coming years we will see more Turkish brands at international shows. It is a marketing age as much as a technological one. Turkish firms need to step up on marketing.
Meanwhile, back in Turkey, mobile companies have come to a mutual understanding and signed a cooperation agreement. Turkcell, Vodafone and Avea will work together to incorporate 2,128 villages, which house less than 500 people each, to their coverage. It was previously impossible to use mobile phones for those who lived in remote villages in Turkey.
With this move they will also be included in the grid. The coverage of mobile operators will reach 100 percent, which is much better than many other countries. The operators will share their base stations and the extra costs for base stations will be covered by the universal fund. It will cost 200 million Turkish Liras.
This is the best news I have heard for a long time, because it is proven mobile coverage boosts economic development like no other. According to The Economist, phones let fishermen and farmers check prices in different markets before selling produce, as well as making it easier for people to find work, allowing quick and easy transfers of funds and boosting entrepreneurship.
Phones can also be shared by a village, with pre-paid calling plans reducing the need for a bank account or credit check. A recent study by London Business School found that in a typical developing country, an increase of 10 mobile phones per 100 people boosted GDP growth by 0.6 to 1 percentage point.
Hopefully the wealth in the villages will increase with this new cooperation.
