Vodafone Türkiye CEO Engin Aksoy: We are ready to provide 5.5G service in Turkey

Vodafone Turkey CEO Engin Aksoy said that they are ready to provide 5.5G service in Turkey.

Aksoy made evaluations to AA correspondent regarding the performance of the sector and Vodafone Turkey in the first half of the year, digital services whose usage is on the rise in the world, Turkey’s 5G journey, and the reflection of the company’s global experiences on Turkey.

Summarizing the first 6 months of the year in terms of the sector, Aksoy stated that the demand for the internet in the sector is increasing day by day, but when looking at real incomes, there is not an increase of the same scale.

Aksoy drew attention to the fact that despite the increasing investment costs of the sector in the last 10 years, the same increase was not seen in the average income per user, and noted the following:

“While the share of electronic communication revenues (EHG) in gross domestic product (GDP) was 2.51 percent in 2005, this rate dropped to 0.87 percent in 2022. Our sector is a capital and investment intensive sector, and we need to increase our investments depending on demand and our obligations. While the need for investment is constantly increasing depending on demand, the cost of investments is also increasing due to the increasing exchange rate and inflation. According to the latest report of the Information Technologies and Communication Authority (BTK), the total amount of investments made by operators last year is 52.4 billion liras.

Considering the increase in investments and decrease in income, as well as tax and financial liabilities, it is not possible to provide a sustainable investment environment in our sector. At this point, regulatory decisions and liabilities regarding our sector are important. For the sustainability of our sector, it is necessary to improve the investment and competition environment, use resources effectively and make the income flow sustainable. First of all, improving investment conditions, facilitating investment in fiber and making 5G frequency allocations at reasonable prices are important issues for our sector.

“Today, almost every sector benefits from incentives, our sector should also be supported by incentives”

Aksoy stated that the sector should be supported by issues such as ensuring that investment liabilities are balanced in the long term, easing the tax burden on the sector and designing incentives for infrastructure investments.

“Almost every sector benefits from incentives today, our sector should also be supported with incentives in infrastructure investments,” said Aksoy, adding that incentives in investments are valuable and will make things significantly easier for the sector. Aksoy explained that the sector needs not only financial incentives but also structural incentives.

Aksoy stated that there have been parallel developments in the sector in Vodafone Turkey in the last year and said:

“Our revenues and investments have both increased, but we are seeing a greater increase in investments. What is important here is to have a sustainable investment environment and to establish the right mechanisms for this. We invested 9.3 billion liras between March 2023 and March 2024. The real value of our investment in Turkey to date has exceeded 157 billion liras. As the Vodafone ecosystem, we contributed 68 billion liras to Turkey’s GDP in the 2022-23 fiscal year alone. We are one of Turkey’s largest international investors.

We are preparing to establish a new data center in Izmir with Edgnex Data Centers by DAMAC company partnership. In this context, we expect the total investment amount of our joint data center project to be established in Izmir to reach 100 million dollars. We have an important role in the investment climate of our country. We are one of the players contributing to the Turkish economy. We are a long-term investor in Turkey and we continue our investments with the confidence we have in the future of both our country and our sector.”

“As soon as 5G becomes available in Turkey, we will provide 5.5G service to our customers in Turkey”

Noting that the sector has a hot 5G agenda in the second half of the year, Aksoy said that they expect 5G frequency allocations to be tendered quickly and with the right structure, considering the investments and liabilities.

Referring to the statements of Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu regarding the 5G tender and transition process, Aksoy noted that they are prepared for it if it is even faster.

Aksoy said, “In fact, we think that it would be very beneficial if 700 MHz were opened for use before the 5G frequency allocation was made. Opening this frequency would increase the internet speed and capacity of users in Turkey. Focusing on spectrum efficiency with technology updates is critical, as operators we need to invest in new technologies, not old ones. This is only possible by providing new frequencies and closing down old ones. We expect regulations on this issue in the second half of the year.”

Aksoy, reminding us of Vodafone’s global 5.5G efforts, said, “We are ready to launch 5.5G in Turkey today. When the tender is parallel to the schedule announced by our Minister, when 5G reaches the public, we as Vodafone Turkey will actually provide 5.5G service to our customers. We are ready for this with our global experience and we have also conducted tests of this in Turkey. Our technical infrastructure is ready, we are currently in a position to provide this service in Turkey. As soon as 5G is implemented in Turkey, we will provide 5.5G service to our customers in Turkey.”

Engin Aksoy stated that they continue their 6G studies with the same sensitivity.

“Establishing a joint infrastructure company in fiber is important and necessary”

Aksoy, who drew attention to the fact that the second important issue for Turkey is fiber, explained that the operators’ access conditions to fiber should be improved, the structure in fiber should be changed and a joint infrastructure company should be established.

Aksoy said, “We believe that the establishment of a joint fiber infrastructure company and the transition of the infrastructure to a separate business model by ensuring structural separation is very important and necessary.” and continued as follows:

“Here, too, there is a license that will expire in 2026. The regulations here must also be made fairly. The conditions of the tender to be held today are very important for fair competition in the sector in the next 20 years. The necessary environment is currently in place for the establishment of a joint infrastructure company in fiber. Establishing a joint infrastructure company means that investments made in Turkey will increase, and it will make a significant contribution to the country’s economy.

“Reaching a 2 million kilometer fiber network nationwide is important for both home internet and base station capacity. For this, we need to increase the fiber line by 17 percent each year compared to the previous year. The effects that will emerge in this case will contribute 2.2 percent, or in other words, 19 billion dollars, to Turkey’s GDP each year until 2030.”

Expressing that they will continue their investments in Turkey as Vodafone, Aksoy said that they will continue to contribute to the Turkish economy.

Aksoy said, “We believe that the future is in digital services. Our goal is to be the fastest growing new generation connectivity and digital services company in Turkey. In other words, we are going beyond just providing communication services. By using the power of digitalization, we are taking steps to become a digital marketplace, a financial and insurance service provider, and the most important supporter of businesses that want to digitalize. We are growing every day on the way to our digital services goal with our 10 companies operating under Vodafone Holding.”