Since the Internet can be viewed as a public good necessary for economic and social development, governments should take part in fostering nationwide internet access. A competitive private sector needs to develop the capability to use e-commerce. E-commerce will develop slowly if there are few Internet users, and users will not develop if charges for connections are high, coverage low, and the Internet provides negligible content and services. This section draws analysis on Internet usage and diffusion by people and enterprises. Discussion herein progresses around issues of how individuals and enterprises in Turkey use the Internet and differences in usage as to gender, age, and where people live – the so-called digital divide.

4.1 People

Household broadband access is relatively low in Turkey compared to European Union members. In 2010 more than three out of five households living in EU countries had a broadband connection while in Turkey the ratio was 34% (Figure 4‑1). This relatively low share of broadband access represents a barrier to the take-up of online government services as well as the development of e-commerce.

Significant differences exist within Turkey: between urban and rural areas, men and women, young people and individuals aged 55-74, and individuals with higher education and people without higher education. In 2009 urban areas have 32.5% broadband household penetration whereas rural areas have only 11%. However it is observed that the rural broadband connections are growing at a superior rate than that of urban areas which means the digital divide is getting smaller (another factor is because of the restrained growth of broadband infrastructure nationwide and particularly in largely populated urban centers).

The Internet usage proportion is the highest in the 16 – 24 age group (59.4 %) according to the results of the survey applied to the 16 – 74 age groups. The usage of Internet by women (46%) significantly lags behind the usage of men (74.1%) in 16 – 24 age group and all age groups. Consequently, it is important for the government to seek to increase the proportion of individuals using the Internet through better geographical coverage and by reducing the cost of accessing and using the internet.

The level of education and Internet usage are highly correlated. Internet usage of individuals increases in parallel with their education levels. Internet usage by women with college, university, and higher education (85.8%) is quite close to the usage levels of men with the same educational background (89%). Those using the Internet most, according to employment status, are students (88.2%), employers (66.1%), waged/salaried employees (56.8%), and the unemployed (41.6%). * The data come from the Survey results by TURKSAT and figures are for 2009.

A great majority of users (68.2 % for females and 51.6 % for males) report using the Internet at home. The proportion of home usage by females is significantly surpassing the usage by males. The workplace usage is among the top forms of Internet connection activities among households and more interestingly Internet cafes continue to offer a wide mean for internet in particular for male groups (31.8%). Individuals also report that they are using internet during social activities and visits. (Figure 4-2).

Though home access have greatly increased recently Turkish people still account for a different structure of access type by place. Internet cafe use is much higher and public libraries are not used at all. This finding shows that Internet access from home or workplace is not always the most revealing measures of actual individual internet access for comparison between countries.

Survey data indicate basic Internet activities such as sending email (73%), reading online news (59%), surfing the web and making social connections (64%) are among the leading forms of Internet usage. Usage rates for more sophisticated Internet activities are still relatively low: Internet banking (17%), looking for a job (10%), online education (6%) and selling goods or services (4%).

Analyses show that Turkey faces a number of challenges in Internet usage. First and foremost improving Internet access and broadband development should be a priority on the supply side. Turkey needs to promote a high degree of broadband coverage using appropriate technologies. Initiatives to reduce the digital divide in Turkey should also include expanding the number of computers and computer classes in primary and secondary schools, and providing increased access to the Internet through community use of school computers. Turkey has demonstrated an ambitious case in trying to close the divide in digital literacy between urban and rural areas by means of education policy. The Ministry of National Education (MNE) and local governments have taken part in this collective effort to foster education in digital skills. The number of students per computer is 30.8 in primary schools and 25.1 in secondary schools nationwide. 27,999 information technology (IT) laboratories were established.

Since the early take up of information society and e-transformation initiatives Turkey has launched a motivated program for teaching computer and information literacy in primary and secondary schools, but more is needed. Turkey should provide means to increase computer and information literacy for people who are not in school. Online distance learning programs and new incentives and programs for Internet cafes to provide a social training base for households living in rural areas may constitute the essence of an effective policy mix. The government should also find means to further motivate citizens to use the Internet by demonstrating and informing citizens about the benefits and advantages of accessing information and government services online.

4.2 Business

The business sector has shown somewhat more success in ICT adoption than households. The Turkish business sector has become heavily computerized in the last ten years. Computer usage has become a standard nationwide even in micro sized business units. In 2009 computer penetration rates are as follows: In enterprises with 250 or more employees 99.3%, in enterprises with 50-249 employees 97.7%, in enterprises 10-49 employees 89.5% and in enterprises with 10 or more employees 90.7%.

Similarly Internet access by the business sector has grown explosively and reached a level almost identical to that of computer penetration rates. In January 2010, 90.9% of enterprises with at least 10 persons employed used the Internet. This rate was 98.4% of enterprises with 250 or more employees, while enterprises with 50-249 employees was 96.9% and enterprises with 10-49 employees was 89.7%. 88.8% of enterprises had Internet access in January 2009.

The business sector has demonstrated a major achievement in adopting and utilizing ICTs and broadband. Turkish enterprises have high rate of broadband usage and as compared to EU 27 countries Turkey slightly surpasses the EU averages (Figure 4-3). In terms of connection type the most frequently used access technology in enterprises was DSL with a 94.6% proportion in 2009. However 19.5% of enterprises reported to have access via traditional dial up connections also. Mobile technologies accounted for 13.5 % and cable technology had a proportion of 10.2%.

Figure 4-4. portrays how firms are integrating internet usage into internal business process. Two points can be drawn from data: The trends are similar between years and a major change is not observed. Secondly, business units are utilizing online connections most for getting financial services (76.3%) and assessing relevant market trends (78%). Diffusion of internet based applications into education and training services accounts for lower but still a significant proportion (31.6%) in 2009.

Lack of sufficient number of candidates with the required qualifications and job experience (39.4%) stood out as the main difficulty faced by enterprises when employing information specialists in 2007. While 68.3% of enterprises reported that the salary expectation of specialists were high, a greater proportion of 74.4% stated that the work experience and competency of specialists as being insufficient. Similarly even a greater proportion of 84.5% reported there was very limited number of candidates with required qualifications in 2007. * Source: SPO (2010), Information Society Statistics, Ankara. According to the Survey, enterprises, with a proportion of 8.9 % in 2007, had started to run internal training programs to address the skill gap in ICT technologies.

Though the broadband penetration has been somewhat limited compared to more advanced countries, Turkish businesses have adopted a high level of Internet usage, motivated to a large degree by the desire to use government e-services and penetration into new markets. One exception to this fact is the banking sector where the main motivation is cutting costs rather than demand aggregation.

However, this has not resulted in a fully competent business sector with a high level of broadband usage and applications within integral business processes. A large share of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) selling in local markets with few resources find it difficult to learn and develop new marketing channels. These business units are slow to adapt broadband technologies. Industrial structure is increasingly fragmented and innovative collaboration frameworks and programs are needed. This is where the public policy should engage in effective mechanisms and incentive structures to enable a favorable environment for technological take up.

Given that broadband technologies have a very strong stimulus for economic growth, the government might consider means to stimulate business usage through infrastructure development, as well as providing content and e-services over the Internet through various mechanisms. Requiring firms to interact electronically with e-government services should increase private sector use of the Internet. Additionally, increased broadband availability will allow faster development of Internet usage and serve as an important factor in attracting foreign domestic investment in the Turkish economy. Stronger efforts to foster human resource development and to address the ICT skill gap are needed also.