Vodafone to make smart phones

ISTANBUL

The technology investments will get the biggest share from the additional investment budget, Vodafone Turkey CEO Gökhan Öğüt (C) said. AA Photo

Vodafone Turkey is to begin production of its own smart mobile phone at the facilities of Turkish electronics and domestic appliance maker Vestel by December, the company announced during a press conference on Nov. 19.

As mobile phone operator Vodafone made 3.7 billion Turkish Liras ($1.8 billion) of investment in Turkey in the last four and a half years, it plans to boost its investments in technological infrastructure, cloud computing and M2M (machine to machine). The company will produce smart phones under the Vodofone brand at Vestel’s facilities, in the framework of plans to raise smart phone penetration.

Vodafone Turkey CEO Gökhan Öğüt said as Vodafone Group had spared a budget of 7 billion pounds ($11.2 billion) for the next two years, they had accelerated their works in order to get a bigger share than Turkey was currently allocated from this budget. “The technology investments will get the biggest share from the additional investment budget; we’ll make investments for 3G coverage, 3G speed, fiber speed and 4G preparation. We’ll announce fiber investment in December,” he said.