The Istanbul Telephone İstanbul Telefon Şirketi Company was established with foreign capital in 1911, granted a concession to create a telephone network in and around Istanbul. The company, which took over the privilege of operating telephone lines in and around Istanbul for 30 years, established telephone lines on both sides of the Bosphorus. In its early years, the Republic of Turkey adopted the policy of granting concessions to foreign companies for the development of telephone infrastructure to avoid additional financial burdens to the national budget. As a result of this approach, the concession of the Istanbul Telephone Company was renewed in 1923. Between 1923 and 1935, while the Istanbul Telephone Company was in operation, numerous irregularities were observed, such as high tariffs and inadequate service quality. This situation has created the need to make communication more accessible and reliable. These reasons constituted the main reason for nationalization. Nationalization enabled better planning and resource allocation and the development and modernization of the telephone network in Istanbul and other parts of the country. In this context, the nationalization of the Istanbul Telephone Company in 1936 can be considered as an important step in Turkey’s economic development and modernization process

Istanbul Telephone Company, nationalization, foreign capital, national economy, telephone.