İmtiyazdan Kamulaştırmaya İstanbul Telefon Şirketi: Bir İşletmecilik Tarihi Çalışması (1909-1936)

Abstract

Bu çalışma İstanbul’daki ticari telefon şebekesinin 1913’te yabancı şirketlerden oluşan bir konsorsiyum tarafından kurulmasının işletmecilik tarihini incelemektedir. Makale, on dokuzuncu yüzyılda Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nun posta ve telgraf politikalarını tanıtan kısa bir giriş yaptıktan sonra, politik ve ekonomik açıdan çalkantılı bir dönemi, 1909’daki ihale süreciyle 1936’daki telefon şebekesinin kamulaştırılması arasında geçen zaman aralığını ele almaktadır. Bu çalışmanın odaklandığı konular, İstanbul Telefon Şirketi ile Osmanlı/Türk hükümetleri arasındaki ilişkiler, şirket tarafından kullanılan finansman mekanizmaları ve kamulaştırmaya kadar İstanbul’da kentsel telefon şebekesine erişim ile teknoloji transferinin seyri şeklinde sıralanmaktadır. Makale, olgusal dayanağını oluşturmak için, Türkçe kaynakların geniş bir seçkisine ek olarak, Londra ve New York gibi şehirlerdeki finansal piyasalara katılan aktörleri takip eden ve bilgilendiren İngilizce gazetelerin kapsamlı bir taramasını kullanmaktadır. Böylece İstanbul Telefon Şirketi’nin 1909 ila 1936 arasındaki işletmecilik tarihini kapitalist dünya ekonomisi ve uluslararası sermaye piyasaları bağlamına oturtarak sunmuş olmaktadır. Bu tarihin modern Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’nde telekomünikasyon politikalarının biçimlenmesine ilişkin de söyleyebileceği çok şey bulunmaktadır.

Keywords

• telefon işletmeciliği
• imtiyaz
• İstanbul
• Osmanlı İmparatorluğu
• işletme tarihi

Istanbul Telephone Company from Concession to Nationalization: A Study in Business History (1909-1936)

Abstract

I provide a business history study of introduction of commercial telephone network in Istanbul in 1913 by a consortium of foreign companies. After a short introduction of Ottoman post and telegraph policies in the nineteenth century, the timespan of the article covers a politically and economically turbulent historical era, the period between the auction process in 1909 and the nationalization of Istanbul telephone network in 1936. I focus on the relationship of Istanbul Telephone Company to the Ottoman/Turkish governments, financing mechanisms employed by the company, and development of reach of urban telephone network and technology transfer in Istanbul until nationalization. While compiling empirical backbone of the article, I employ a comprehensive search of English language newspapers that monitored and informed actors that participate into the financial markets in cities like London and New York, in addition to a wide array of sources in Turkish language. By doing so I provide a business history of Istanbul Telephone Company between 1909 and 1936 in the context of capitalist world economy and international financial markets. This history also has much to say about shaping of telecommunications policy in modern Turkish Republic.

Keywords

• Telephone business
• oncession
• Istanbul
• Ottoman Empire
• business history

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