4.5G network opens new era, Turk Telekom CEO says

ISTANBUL

The Turk Telekom CEO praised the introduction of the 4.5G in Turkey on Wednesday, calling it a revolution as well as an important milestone for the Turkish economy.

Turkey's existing three mobile operators, Turkcell, Vodafone and Avea -- owned by Turk Telekom -- won the rights to said 4.5G network, in the tender issued by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority last Wednesday. 

"The ultimate winner of that is going to be Turkish consumers. This is a new era," Rami Aslan, the Turk Telekom CEO, said at a press conference organized in Istanbul.

There were 20 packets up for tender in the offer, each comprising of various frequencies in the available spectrum licensed by the authority.

Avea will pay 955 million euros ($1.073 million) plus taxes for all frequencies that it purchased.

Aslan stressed that the company was able to get “every single frequency” that it wanted.

“We feel very fortune as a group that we are extremely well-positioned for this new era,” Aslan stressed.

Erkan Akdemir, Avea CEO, said that nothing would be the same following the introduction of 4.5G networks in Turkey. “The game has just started,” he said.

The new network will offer consumers the ability to use new technologies and provide faster surfing, downloads and uploads. The total amount of spectrum available will be increased by three times.

The rights to the frequencies will last until April 30, 2029. 

4G technology, or 4.5G in Turkey, is said to be 10 times faster than 3G.

Last April, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey should skip 4G internet technology and move directly to 5G instead. 

"We would waste time with 4G technology and should move to 5G in two years, or else Turkey becomes a garbage dump for 4G technology," Erdogan had said.