Turkey - 3G

Türk Telekom to face 3G rivalry, Internet prices expected to drop

KKTC Prime Minister Ferdi Sabit Soyer (R) receives Turkcell General Manager Süreyya Ciliv on Thursday in Girne. Turkcell has brought the KKTC more than half a billion dollars since it started operations there.

Türk Telekom, the leading telecommunications service provider in Turkey, will face a challenger for its title as the major Internet service provider (ISP) in the country with the introduction of third generation (3G) mobile phone standards and technologies, which are expected to start begin in Turkey this coming October.

Turkish mobile phone operators are planning to make investments in the 3G sector and become rivals to Türk Telekom. Speaking to reporters yesterday in Girne during a trip to promote his company's operations in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC), Turkcell General Manager Süreyya Ciliv said ADSL prices in Turkey will drop further and the speed of Internet access will increase thanks to the use of 3G technologies.

"If you want to download a 1.5-hour movie using a connect card, you can do this in 6.5 hours in Turkey, but it takes just 13 minutes in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus [KKTC]. If you travel to KKTC by plane, download the movie you wanted to download in Turkey in 13 minutes while you are there and then return to Turkey, you will see the download process on your computer in Turkey has not yet finished," Ciliv explained.

More than 300 million people in 94 countries all around the world use 3G technologies through 320 mobile operators. The mobile telephone infrastructure in Turkey is still at the 2G level.

"We are striving to introduce new technologies; however, some of our rivals think it is too early for new technologies," Ciliv said.

He stressed that Turkcell was ready for the 3G tender to be held in November, recalling remarks from Telecommunications Board President Tayfun Acer, who said even if just one company participates in the tender, it will be given the relevant license to operate 3G services

Turkcell, which had already introduced high-speed mobile Internet access in the KKTC, began to operate 3G technologies in the country by making an investment of YTL 14.7 million. Turkcell paid a $10 million license fee for the largest private sector investment in the country.

Indicating that mobile communications helped the KKTC economy grow, Ciliv said: "During our meetings with KKTC Prime Minister Ferdi Sabit Soyer, he said he was very excited about our investments. A new technology has been put into practice in the country, which is a popular tourism resort. Two mobile phone operators were operating 3G technologies in Greek Cyprus, now these technologies have been implemented in the KKTC, as well."

Turkcell has contributed YTL 567 million to the KKTC economy since it began operating on Cyprus, making it the biggest taxpayer in the country.

Turkcell had won a tender for the Type A 3G license in Turkey last year with a $511 million offer in an auction in which it was the only participant. It soon began to run commercials bringing the tidings of a new era in the telecommunication business. But a few weeks after the tender was closed the Telecommunications Authority revoked the license granted to Turkcell after three other licenses received no bids.

3G innovations

3G technologies enable network operators to offer users a wider range of more advanced services while achieving greater network capacity through improved spectral efficiency. Services include wide-area wireless voice telephony, video calls and broadband wireless data, all in a mobile environment. Additional features also include HSPA data transmission capabilities able to deliver speeds up to 14.4Mbit/s on the downlink and 5.8Mbit/s on the uplink.