ISTANBUL
Turkey will hold a tender for 4G – fourth generation – mobile data this May, aiming to provide services by the end of 2015, according to the country’s communications minister.
"We will complete the authorization tender by the end of May and offer services to our citizens by the end of this year," said Lutfi Elvan on Wednesday at an Istanbul conference.
Turkey's communication regulator, the Information and Communication Technologies Authority, will tender for 800, 900, 1800, 2100 and 2600 megahertz, or Mhz, bandwidths, providing consumers with "at least 10 times higher speed" for connection.
For the 2600 Mhz bandwidth, a fourth operator other than Turkey's three major GSM communicators will be able to bid for the tender. The communications body will not hold the fourth bidder to the same obligations with the GSM trio.
"The number of internet users via mobile phones is increasing every day," Elvan said, claiming that Turkish mobile Internet traffic has "increased by 123 percent" in the last year, surpassing the world average.
Elvan also said that a 10 percent increase in bandwidth penetration by 4G technology would lead to an increase of 1 percent in the country's GDP growth and boost employment.
