Turkish Telecom Giant Turkcell Introduces Blockchain ID Management Product

Istanbul-based telecommunication services provider Turkcell has introduced a blockchain-based service for ID management, news outlet Daily Sabah reported on Feb. 26.

Turkcell reportedly announced its new blockchain product at the technology fair Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2019 on Feb. 25. The ID Management solution is designed to provide users with control over their personal information and ensure privacy in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements.

While existing ID management systems consider sharing of users’ data with third parties, Turkcell’s blockchain product purportedly stores required user data on a blockchain and eliminates additional identity verification. Turkcell also presented a blockchain-based donation use case that includes the ID management solution to verify the donation eligibility for those in need.

Turkcell Customer Experience and Information Technologies Executive Vice President Serkan Öztürk reportedly said that “using blockchain technology is essential to improve the customer experience of our digital services and solutions, which remains a top priority in the design of our services.” Öztürk also stressed that the efforts “will help us [Turkcell] improve our digital services and raise the bar in customer experience."

Founded in 1994, Turkcell is a digital operator headquartered in Turkey and operating in nine countries. In 2018, the group’s net income reportedly amounted to 2 billion lira ($377 million), while the group’s revenues were up 21 percent year-on-year.

Blockchain has been widely adopted in the telecoms sector globally. Earlier today, Cointelegraph reported that Spain’s biggest multinational telecommunications company, Telefonica, partnered with Microsoft to expand its digital innovation using blockchain and artificial intelligence. The collaboration will reportedly include customer-focused technological improvements, building upon previous work carried out by the two companies.

Also this month, South Korea's largest wireless carrier, SK Telecom (SKT), teamed up with the world’s fifth largest telecoms firm, Germany’s Deutsche Telekom, to develop a commercialized, blockchain-powered mobile identity solution that can be used for applications such as access control, dealings and contracts.