How Many of Us Have 5G Devices?

While the transition to 5G continues all over the world, First 5G connection support in Turkey at Istanbul Airport was made available. While it is a matter of great curiosity when 5G will become widespread in our country, today From the CEO of Turk Telekom A remarkable statement has come.

Türk Telekom CEO Ümit Önal did not share a definite date for the 5G tender, while addressing Turkey’s 5G preparations, tender process, locality and nationality. Onal, 5G tender It should be delayed a little longer explained what they were thinking. Önal’s statements were as follows:

“We think it is more reasonable to delay the tender”

“For the transition to 5G with domestic elements, the conditions must be mature enough. I think we are at a level to reach the desired point in terms of locality in the next few years, but what we need to talk about is the growth of the indigenous ecosystem and the time between tender and use. We should not make 5G premature birth by taking the tender forward.

The tender and the production and finalization of the domestic 5G ecosystem should converge, so to delay the bidding a little longer. We think it might be more reasonable. The use of domestic and national hardware and software in our electronic communication networks is of great importance both in terms of reducing the current account deficit and in terms of our country’s national defense and security foreign policies.”

So when will domestic 5G come?

Önal stated that with the production of the domestic 5G base station, sufficient maturity will be reached for the transition to 5G. He explained that a largely localized 5G will take place in a time frame that will not exceed ‘a few years’. Önal also drew attention to the fact that there is no consensus among the operators on the use of 5G, and used the following statements:

“Those who did not get enough broad spectrum in the 4.5G auction yesterdayIf people are experiencing speed-quality problems in today’s conditions, they may want to make a 5G tender as soon as possible, expand their spectrum so that they can carry their existing traffic. In fact, that is the case.”

Will Turkey delay in transitioning to 5G?

“The implementation of 5G with domestic and national elements will be much better for both our country and our industry. For this, the rate of locality, conditions and the ecosystem need to mature a little more. On the other hand, it is necessary to think about the issue from the perspective of the end user. For example, if we switch to 5G today, how many of us individually have 5G supported mobile devices, how many of us can use this technology immediately? It is also important to analyze them well. We also need to prepare industries for 5G. The concept of ‘lateness’ is a concept that needs to be emphasized, but what is presented as being delayed may have some advantages besides investing in a more immature technology.

I don’t think it’s definitely delayed on 5G. When we look at the investments and the returns on these investments, we can clearly see that the journey of maturation, waiting a little longer, is not a loss or a delay in the stories of those who set off on this journey early, but now it’s time to step on the gas from a local point of view. The most important pillar here is locality. Since it is a software-based network in terms of 5G architecture, there are opportunities here, we should not miss it.”

The CEO again opposed the issue of shared infrastructure:

“Our friends from common infrastructure they understand; To invest in the places where Türk Telekom already serves and to churn the existing Türk Telekom customers, that is, to move them to them. Underneath this patriotic rhetoric is to go to places that have already been visited and try to turn the customers there into their own customers. They want to present this to the decision makers with the motto ‘We want a common infrastructure for the benefit of Turkey’, but this is a futile effort.

Let’s not all invest again and again, let’s not waste this nation’s money. If the parties who bring up this issue are truly sincere in their words, they should welcome the decision makers to new places where there is no infrastructure, instead of putting them under pressure. Let’s invest in remote corners of Turkey, let’s contribute to the digital transformation of our country together.

As a matter of fact, there is a period in which we will invest heavily in mobile 5G technology, which will be implemented in the coming period. A unique opportunity to implement competition in the superstructure, not the infrastructure. As an extension of our rhetoric, let’s build a common infrastructure for 5G in mobile,” he said.