Software-defined radio

Turkey should skip 4G internet technology and move directly to 5G in two years, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an has said, but sector representatives have concerns about realizing this target, as the 5G technologies have been in the development stage and it might take some four years for the world to get 5G online. 

Turkey's defense procurement institution has unveiled a critical component in the country's establishment of a 4G network, which is expected to be operational by the first day of 2016.

Turkish fourth-generation (4G) telecom services are envisaged to be operational by the first day of 2016, Communications Minister Feridun Bilgin has said.

Speaking in an exclusive interview on April 14, Bilgin said GSM operators had been asked to ready their networks before the end of 2015.

The deadline for bids in Turkey's 4G license tender has been set for May 26, the information and communications technologies authority (BTK) said in a statement on April 10.

In the tender, 20 separate frequency segments will be sold at a minimum value of around 2.3 billion euros ($2.45 billion).

Turkey's telecommunications regulator has set 2.3 billion euros ($2.44 billion) as the minimum price that mobile operators must pay to secure frequency bands for a new 4G network.

Individuals and families with low incomes in Turkey will receive free Internet access under a new government measure.

According to the Ministry of Development's 2015-2018 Information Society Strategy and Action Plan, the aim to provide free Internet is to reduce the digital divide in society by providing Internet access to Turkey's poorest, giving families with students the priority.

Turkey expects to complete a tender for fourth-generation (4G) mobile data services in May and be able to offer the service to consumers by the end of this year, Transport and Communications Minister Lütfi Elvan said on March 4.

Max, the mobile Internet services provider, said it has launched a new real-time billing system that will enable the company to introduce products so far unseen on the Bulgarian market.

Turkey?s largest mobile operator Turkcell posted a lower-than-expected net profit of 258 million Turkish Liras ($105 million) in the fourth quarter,  due to foreign currency losses in operations in Ukraine and Belarus.

Bulgaria's largest telecommunications company Vivacom suffered a major outage on Tuesday, leaving its subscribers without access to their mobile phones and the Internet.

Representatives of Vivacom have announced for NOVA TV that such a problem existed and crews were working on fixing it.