Tender for 5G network may be held next year: Uraloğlu

ISTANBUL

Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdülkadir Uraloğlu has said that a timetable for the 5G network tender could be announced by the end of this year, with the tender potentially launching in the first quarter of 2025.

The 5G service could become operational at the start of 2026, Uraloğlu said in an interview with private broadcaster CNN Türk.

The number of 4.5G subscribers in Türkiye rose from 51.7 million in 2016, when it was first introduced to the country, to 86.3 million as of the end of June, according to the latest quarterly market report by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK).

The number of 3G subscribers declined from 18.9 million to 4.7 million over the same period. The 3G service became available in Türkiye in June 2009.

There were a total of 74.4 million 4.5G compatible devices in the country as of the end of June, while 71.8 million subscribers were actively using this service, according to the report.

Some 67.5 million subscribers had access to the internet via mobile computers and cell phones using the 4.5G service, the authority said.

The number of mobile phone subscribers in Türkiye is expected to reach 99.7 million in 2027, surpassing the population of 179 countries, according to projections by the government.

The subscriptions are forecast to rise to 96.5 million next year.

The mobile broadband subscriber penetration rate, which is seen at 90 percent by the end of this year, is expected to be 92.2 percent in 2025, 94.8 percent in 2026 and 97.4 percent in 2027.