Turkey to cooperate with Japan on 5G technology

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

Turkey will cooperate with Japan on implementing cutting-edge 5G technology during President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s two-day-visit to the country, officials have said.

According to information from Turkey’s Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK), a joint declaration has been signed between the agency and Japan’s Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry.

The declaration was inked by BTK President Ömer Fatih Sayan and Japanese Deputy Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Yasou Sakamoto on Oct. 8.

The joint declaration mainly encompasses measures to increase cooperation on 5G issues, according to BTK sources. It will also include the strengthening of social and economic ties between the two countries via science and technology.

The BTK told Anadolu Agency that the declaration would play an important role in paving the way to 5G technology in Turkey.

The declaration will support the standardization of 5G infrastructure to international standards, as well as upgrades to the latest technology, the agency said.

On Aug. 26, the BTK announced a tender for 4.5G technology as a stepping stone to 5G technology.

Erdoğan had previously said he wanted to skip directly from 3G to 5G technology.

The “fifth generation” of telecommunications systems, or 5G, will be much faster than the current 4G network; by 2020 there will be more than 30 times as much mobile Internet traffic as there was in 2010, according to the European Commission.