Türkiye's 2027 programme targets 15 per cent fibre subscription density

Türkiye's 2027 Presidential Annual Programme sets a fibre broadband subscription density target of 15.0 per cent for 2027, against 11.4 per cent in 2025 and an estimated 13.0 per cent this year, the Official Gazette text shows.

The targets sit in the information and communication technologies section, on page 229 of the programme, which Presidential Decision 11934 approved on 27 October. The same table sets mobile broadband subscription density at 88.8, 94.0 and 96.0 per cent for the three years, and internet use among 16 to 74 year olds at 90.9, 92.3 and 94.0 per cent. The 2026 column is marked as an estimated outturn and the 2027 column as the programme.

The fibre path asks for 1.6 percentage points of gain in 2026 and 2.0 in 2027, or 3.6 over the two years, on a Corridor Signal calculation. The programme does not state the base for density. Dividing the 10,698,289 fibre subscriptions that the second-quarter market data report of the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) counts at the end of June by the 86,092,168 population the report cites gives 12.4 per cent, on a Corridor Signal calculation, which sits between the 2025 figure and the 2026 estimate.

206 infrastructure operators and 720,012 km of fibre

The programme's description of the sector says that 206 operators had been authorised for infrastructure operation as of June 2026, in order to build infrastructure-based competition. BTK's report gives the same 206 under notification-based authorisation and adds 14 under rights of use.

Those operators laid about 82 thousand km of fibre in the past year, the programme says, lifting total fibre length by 12.9 per cent to 720,012 km in the second quarter of 2026. BTK's series shows 637,668 km a year earlier, and says the total includes backbone and access routes that operators lease as well as own. The two documents agree on the figures.

They differ on 5G. The programme says 5G has been offered in all 81 provinces since 1 April 2026 and that the number of active 5G subscribers is close to 44.3 million; its figure of 102.2 million with machine-to-machine lines refers, on BTK's numbers, to total mobile subscribers. BTK's report gives 44,268,946 as its 5G real-user count, which excludes machine-to-machine lines, and 26,102,884 as its count of active 5G subscribers. The programme's number matches the first, though its label is the one BTK uses for the second, as the earlier report on the 44.5 million count set out.

The measures: software, cyber security and artificial intelligence

The programme's measure table for the sector, on pages 227 and 228, names a lead agency for each measure, marked (S), with partners beside it. The numbers refer to paragraphs of the Development Plan.

• Measure 579.2 backs wider use of standards in software and ICT services. The Ministry of Industry and Technology leads, with the Public Procurement Authority, the Turkish Standards Institution (TSE) and TÜBİTAK. It is to complete a Software Strategy and Action Plan.
• Measure 581.5 strengthens the national cyber security technical base. The Cyber Security Presidency leads, with TÜBİTAK, and the first listed activity is a needs analysis and project design for backing up critical public information systems.
• Measure 582.1 supports domestic cyber security products abroad. The Ministry of Industry and Technology leads, with the Ministry of Trade and the Cyber Security Presidency, on conformity assessment, testing and certification, and access to international markets.
• Measure 591.1 deepens cooperation on artificial intelligence. The Ministry of Industry and Technology leads, with KOSGEB, TÜBİTAK and the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM). Under the Pre-Competitive Collaboration Programme, a call for sector-specific Turkish large language models is to encourage adapting domestic models to industries.

The remaining measures, 592.1 to 592.8, concern audiovisual content and broadcasting. RTÜK, the broadcasting regulator, leads four of the five, including a new forum of broadcasting regulators from Turkic-speaking states (measure 592.6). In measure 592.7, RTÜK and BTK are to follow developments in broadcasting technology and prepare a sector analysis report. That is the only line in the table that names BTK.

The table lists no measure on fibre roll-out, spectrum or access pricing. The fibre target therefore stands without a stated delivery action in this section. The programme also records that Türkiye's first Cyber Security Board met on 5 May 2026 and that the 2026 to 2030 Türkiye Artificial Intelligence Action Plan was published on 18 August 2026.

Anadolu Agency, which reported the programme's publication, led with the macroeconomic frame: growth of 4.2 per cent forecast for 2027 and year-end inflation of 21 per cent targeted. Fibre work outside the programme runs on separate tracks, such as the northern Cyprus fibre protocol and the financing behind Türk Telekom's $1bn club loan.