Turkcell Partners with Qwilt and Cisco to Boost Content Delivery From the Network Edge, Enhancing Digital Streaming Experiences Across Turkiye

February 21, 2024 at 03:00 AM EST

News Summary

Partnership with Cisco and Qwilt enables Turkcell to enhance streaming quality and data delivery for Turkiye's 38.2 million mobile and 3.1 million fixed broadband subscribers.
Deployment integrates Qwilt’s Open Edge Cloud for Content Delivery with Cisco’s edge computing infrastructure, improving the subscriber experience and supporting rising data volumes.
With Cisco and Qwilt's Open Edge model, Turkcell Superonline's network can better meet content publishers' demands and strengthen Turkiye’s position as a digital bridge between East and West.

Cisco and Qwilt today announce a new strategic partnership with Turkcell, the leading digital operator in Turkiye. The collaboration aims to enhance the quality and delivery capacity of digital content and applications, bringing superior streaming experiences and faster data delivery to Turkcell’s 38.2 million mobile users and 3.1 million fixed broadband customers, efficiently supporting growing data demands.

Turkcell’s adoption of Qwilt’s Open Edge Cloud for Content Delivery platform is powered by Open Caching and enabled with Cisco’s edge computing and networking infrastructure. The joint solution is deeply embedded and fully integrated into Turkcell’s network edge, empowering the efficient handling of larger data volumes and enhancing the overall subscriber experience. With network coverage extending to 99% of Turkiye through 9,000 towers, this deployment activates Open Caching services at multiple distributed points of presence (PoPs), equipping Turkcell to provide content publishers with the tools they need to deliver the highest quality content throughout Turkiye.

This partnership makes Turkiye a content and Internet hub and supports Turkcell Superonline's vision of transforming ''the Silk Road into the Fiber Road.'' Collaboration positions Turkcell at the forefront of content delivery, ensuring high-quality streaming and reinforcing its role as Turkiye’s leading digital services provider.

Emre Erdem, General Manager of Turkcell Superonline, commented: "Turkiye’s position as a digital bridge between East and West is getting stronger. By embracing Cisco and Qwilt’s Open Edge model, we’re fortifying our network to meet the demands of content publishers, ensuring Turkiye’s and the region’s digital population remains constantly connected, entertained, and informed. Our fiber roll-out strategy has enabled us to provide fiber internet to over 5.7 million home passes across 28 cities in Turkiye, and we continue our investments to expand our infrastructure further. Additionally, in our new generation data centers, backed by international Tier 3 certifications, we provide our customers with faster and higher quality access to global content. By attracting more companies, Turkiye’s digital landscape will change for the better. This influx of attention will strengthen our existing ecosystem and serve as a crucial step towards Turkcell Superonline's vision of positioning Turkiye as the internet and content hub of region and transforming the Silk Road into the Fiber Road''.

Elif Yenihankaya, Director, Network Capabilities at Turkcell, commented: “Continuing its commitment to excellence, Turkcell is continuously evolving its network infrastructure. Through strategic collaboration with Cisco and Qwilt, we will extend our scope and continue to provide exceptional digital experiences to both residential and business customers across Turkiye. This deployment will allow us to meet the rising bandwidth demands and ensure a superior quality of experience for our valued customers. We are excited about the future and anticipate further partnerships with content publishers, offering enhanced capacity and consistency in content delivery across Turkiye.”

Theodore Tzevelekis, VP, Cisco, said: “Our Open Edge solution, in collaboration with Qwilt, positions Turkcell directly within the content delivery value chain and increases their monetization opportunities. This partnership empowers Turkcell to provide high-quality streaming experiences for its customers and lays the foundation for future edge computing applications. We are delighted to welcome Turkcell to join our global partnership of service providers and are eager to contribute to delivering the highest quality digital experiences to subscribers across Turkiye.”

Alon Maor, CEO at Qwilt, said: "Turkcell’s partnership marks the latest milestone in our mission to build the world’s largest, highest-performing all-edge network. This collaboration ensures seamless digital service delivery to millions of consumers in Turkiye. Our Open Edge CDN is embedded directly at the network edge, closer to end-users than traditional CDNs, guaranteeing users across the country experience the highest quality and fastest delivery for streaming video, online games, social media, or downloading massive files. This partnership underscores Turkcell’s dedication to investing in cutting-edge solutions and solidifies its position as Turkiye’s premier digital services provider.”

Over 175 service providers and content publishers have joined together with Qwilt to implement the Open Edge in their networks, collectively serving over one billion unique subscribers worldwide. They include Verizon in North America, TIM Brazil and Telecom Argentina in Latin America, Airtel in India, J:COM, Link Net and PROEN in Asia-Pacific, BT in the UK, and Fastweb, Telefónica and Vodafone in EMEA. Qwilt also collaborates with five out of the top six US media companies to deliver their content via Qwilt’s global federated network.

About Turkcell:

Turkcell is a digital operator headquartered in Turkiye, serving its customers with its unique portfolio of digital services along with voice, messaging, data and IPTV services on its mobile and fixed networks. Turkcell Group companies operate in 4 countries – Turkiye, Belarus, Ukraine and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Turkcell launched LTE services in its home country on April 1st, 2016, employing LTE-Advanced and 3 carrier aggregation technologies in 81 cities. Turkcell offers up to 10 Gbps fiber internet speed with its FTTH services. Turkcell Group reported TRY26.0 billion revenue in Q323 with total assets of TRY149.2 billion as of September 30, 2023. It has been listed on the NYSE and the BIST since July 2000, and is the only dual-listed company in Turkiye. Read more at www.turkcell.com.tr.

About Cisco

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About Qwilt

Qwilt’s mission is to deliver connected experiences at the quality they are imagined. Its model is built on partnerships with service providers and content and application providers, globally, to create an open fabric that powers high-performance delivery and compute at the very edge of neighborhoods, big and small.

Qwilt’s open architecture and inclusive business model make edge delivery and compute more accessible than ever, unlocking reliable, higher-quality experiences at global scale. Today, the world’s leading content and application publishers, cable, telco, and mobile service providers serve nearly 2bn people though Qwilt for Edge Cloud services, including Airtel, BT, Cirion, Disney, Telefonica, Verizon, and Vodafone.

Founded in 2010, Qwilt is a leader of the Open Caching movement and a founding member of the Streaming Video Technology Alliance. Qwilt is backed by Accel Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Cisco Ventures, Disruptive, Innovation Endeavors, Marker, and Redpoint Ventures. For more information, visit www.qwilt.com.