Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan attended the panel titled "5G is Here. What's Next?" organized within the scope of the Mobilefest Digital Technologies Fair and Conference.
The panel, moderated by Deputy Minister Sayan, featured speakers including ULAK Communication Inc. General Manager Zafer Orhan, Turkcell CEO Murat Erkan, Vodafone CEO Engin Aksoy, Türk Telekom Deputy General Manager Yusuf Kıraç, GTENT Board Chairman İlyas Kayaduman, and Communication Technologies Cluster Board Chairman İlhan Bağören.
Emphasizing that all parties are working to ensure consumers communicate in a healthy and fast manner, Sayan stated, "We are currently going through a period where we not only communicate but can do almost every job with devices related to communication that we never separate from our side. With these strong and correct investments we have made on the path of digitalization, the number of mobile subscribers in Turkey has approached 85 million today, and 93% of this number consists of 4.5G service subscribers. After the outbreak of the pandemic, the increase in the number of internet subscribers accelerated due to the necessity of moving our lives to the virtual world. As of the first half of 2021, broadband subscribers reached 85.7 million and data usage is increasing. The number of users is increasing, but the data consumed and produced by each user showed a 39% increase on fixed lines and 31% on mobile."
Sharing information about the current status of 5G, Sayan said, “When we look at the research, the number of 5G-connected devices will exceed 3 billion within 4 years. 5G has the potential to significantly affect new products, business models, economic and social life, and at the same time, our studies on the use of 5G in defense and military fields continue rapidly. In today's world where communication has gained such importance and has critical importance for the future of countries, there is one thing we must not overlook: Are we dominant over the technology we use or not? While the Ministry is working on the one hand to develop the communication sector, and on the other hand to widespread communication services and ensure that our citizens access all these services in the easiest way possible, our studies continue for the production of all these products with domestic and national capabilities. Especially in terms of critical infrastructures, we aim to use completely domestic and national products," he said.
Deputy Minister Sayan: Domestic and National Production is Important for Us in 5G
Stating that the studies of the Communication Technologies Cluster ULAK on 5G continue, Sayan also conveyed that they have clearly specified the issue of foreign vendors producing in Turkey.
Touching on the issues they prioritize as policy makers in 5G, Sayan said, "What do we, as policy makers, look at in 5G? One, what is the need of the citizen? Two, what will be the frequency usage of the operator and the frequencies to be used including 5G in that spectrum, is there a need here? Three, what added value will it bring to us? How much are 5G-compatible devices and how much will we increase them? What is the citizen's demand regarding 5G applications? Most importantly, four, we showed it in 4.5G, what is our domestic and national status in 5G? What is the situation in ULAK, what is the situation in communication technology clusters? Together with all these, we will put it on the table with our valuable operators, producers, and other institutions," he listed their studies.
Deputy Minister Sayan: We Are Continuing Our 5G Studies Very Rapidly
At the end of his speech, Sayan also made evaluations regarding the 5G tender process timeline that constantly comes to them.
Conveying that the studies continue, Sayan shared the following information: "5G and beyond technologies are technologies with great impacts on every sector, both socially and economically. With the strong policies of our ministry, we continue our studies in cooperation with all our stakeholders to present this technology to our people under the most suitable conditions. Our aim is to bring 5G and beyond technologies together with our people with our domestic and national products. We think that 5G should meet our citizens at least at certain points in 2023, on the 100th anniversary of our Republic. For this purpose, we have started trials including commercial networks. Our institutions within the state, our operators, domestic and national 5G producers are all together trying to determine our timeline. Our first priority is to switch to this with domestic and national capabilities. We are planning the transition at the most appropriate time that will benefit our citizens the most, and we are continuing our studies very rapidly."