How Turkey can become global hub for 5G development

Quite recently, Turkcell and Turkish defense industries company ASELSAN (“Military Electronic Industries”) have taken the first major step in Turkey for 5G mobile communication technologies development and it could very well pave the way for further research and development around 5G.

Turkcell CEO Kaan Terzioglu and Dr. Faik Eken, the General Manager of Aselsan, have signed the framework agreement that sets the stage for cooperation between the two companies.

Ensuring Turkey’s role in the 5G landscape as a technology producer
The aim of the cooperation is to ensure Turkey’s role, in the global 5G landscape, as a country that produces technology. Turkcell and ASELSAN will start working on the formation of a national 5G roadmap, participate jointly in global platforms, and focus on attaining commercial success, both in domestic and international markets with products to be developed as a result of this cooperation.

The two companies will also lead the national ecosystem, paving the way for a more prolific technology development that will eventually result in a greater number of patented ICT products emerging from Turkey.

Turkey will become a global hub for 5G development

“In 5G, we are already among the main actors of the global debate through our work as a board member of the NGMN Alliance, which defines end-to-end operator requirements intended to guide the development of future technology platforms and related standards,” remarked Kaan Terzioglu, CEO of Turkcell. “Turkcell is committed to maintaining its technology leadership in introducing the latest mobile communication technologies to Turkey in 5G. We are excited to be working with ASELSAN, which is as committed to innovation and technology as Turkcell. With this agreement - the first step of a long-term cooperation – we believe that we will achieve our goal of positioning our country as a global hub of 5G development.”

Speaking on this development, ASELSAN General Manager, said, “Our journey started in 1975 with the goal of meeting the communication needs of the Turkish Armed Forces through national and authentic means. 40 years on, our products cover the entire scope of defense electronics in a fashion that minimizes dependency on imported technologies. ASELSAN also exports its technology, to production facilities in Kazakhstan, the UAE, Indonesia and Pakistan.” said Dr. Faik Eken. “With this know-how, we have recently produced Turkey’s first nationally-developed 4G Base Station (eNodeB). Now, we are looking forward to carrying our experience into critical areas like 5G and meeting the technology infrastructure needs of our country with the optimal use of national resources. ASELSAN will be the most competent partner in the preparation, design, production implementation stages of 5G.”