At a recent Technology Summit, Turkcell CEO Kaan Terzioglu said that 5G is not just a communication technology and noted that "5G should be considered as the basis of the digitalization of automotive, agriculture and health industries as well as Industry 4.0 transformation".
Gediz Sezgin, Turkcell’s Chief Network Officer (CNO) and host of the summit which saw the attendance of more than 2500 business partners, said "5G will change all industries from education to health and transportation. Ways of doing business will change. Last year, we performed the first and fastest 5G tests in Turkey. We achieved record speeds with approximately 71 Gbps. As of today, we can say that we are using 5G. Because we reach the best speed supported by today's devices. During the tests in Mardin last week, we achieved 1.05 Gbps. This speed will increase as terminals which support better speeds are available. We are now waiting for better terminals to be launched.”
‘Fiber infrastructure is important for 5G’
Galip Zerey, Deputy Undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications, said that the commercial use of 5G is expected in 2020 and Turkey will be one of the first countries to use 5G technology with the international standards currently specified. Zerey mentioned that they are in collaboration with the operators to develop Turkey's 5G infrastructure and stressed on the importance of the fiber infrastructure for 5G.
‘5G will not be developed in a single day’
Dr. Chaesub Lee, Director of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecommunication Standards Office, said that the transition to 5G will not be completed in a single day and continued: “These efforts are in progress for a long time and at this point, we are actually using 5G. USA is aggressive and 5 networks use this technology. So are China and Japan. Here is an example from Korea. Korea Telecom announced and performed initial 5G tests. It was used in the latest winter Olympics. They did not just modify 4.5G systems but also installed new systems. It was not just in stadiums, it covered 100-km areas; and they are pretty good. They are now waiting for the standards to be defined. I see that Turkey is progressing in this direction and I am glad that the transition will happen in 2020.”
‘We are in a brand-new age of Internet’
Axel Clauberg, Board Chairman of Telecom Infra Project, said: “Devices we use today remind me of Stone Age tools. This is not the 1980s’ internet any more. We are in a brand new age of internet. 5G started with limits but will gain speed in 2020. With a focus on costs, operators should change their ways of doing business. This will allow more data to be offered to the subscribers. Telecom Infra Project has 500 members including Turkcell. 80 percent of these members are there to learn about the ways of doing business of leading internet companies.”
