Huge 4G tender in Turkey delayed for three months

ANKARA

The planned tender for 4G Internet technology has been delayed for three months, the Information and Communications Technologies Authority (BTK) said in a statement on May 15.

The BTK announced that the tender will be made on Aug. 26 this year, after a three-month delay.

The announcement follows President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s harsh criticism of 4G technology, saying Turkey should skip directly from 3G to 5G in two years. 

“It is not necessary to waste time with the 4G technologies. We need to move to the 5G technologies instead in two years,” Erdoğan said in Ankara on April 21. 

“The world is talking about 5G technologies right now. We are still at 3G,” he added.

Erdoğan’s remarks stirred reactions from sector representatives, as 5G technology is still in the development stage and it may take up to four years for the world to get 5G online. 

The earliest online use of 5G technologies is expected at the end of 2018, and in a very limited area, according to sector representatives. 

In the tender, 20 separate frequency segments were said to be sold at a minimum value of around 2.3 billion euros ($2.45 billion) according to the previous tender announcement.