Turkcell starts using Turkey’s 4.5G Mobile Antennas Produced by ASELSAN
Turkcell today announced ASELSAN-produced local 4.5G mobile antennas were configured to the Pendik field in Istanbul.
For over a quarter-century, Turkcell continues to be the driving force that supports the production of Turkey’s local technologies. Local 4.5G mobile antennas were brought to agenda with Turkcell’s efforts during 4.5G network installations. Following the announcement today, local antennas started to serve customers through the live 4.5G network. Produced by ASELSAN, antennas were configured to the Pendik field in Istanbul. With the installation, Turkcell has become the first operator in Turkey to deploy local 4.5G mobile antennas in its network.
Joining forces with ASELSAN for technical requirements, Turkcell has played an active role in the development of 4.5G mobile antennas. Trials with prototypes started in 2016, and the live field trials with the prototypes were conducted in Ankara and Istanbul in 2017. Following the MoU signed in January 2017, the procurement agreement of 2030 antennas were signed in September 2018.
“We endeavor to produce local technologies”
“At Turkcell, we constantly work to help Turkey become a technology producing country,” says Gediz Sezgin, Turkcell CTO. “We continue to keep pushing for technologies produced with local resources to be used in our reliable and resilient network. ASELSAN produced the 4.5G mobile antennas as our technical and technologic requirements evolved over the time we initiated the development. As our local antennas installed in our live networks, local and national technologies are increasingly used in our robust networks.”
“ASELSAN works for local and national communication systems since 1975. We proudly announce that our ‘4.5G Base Station Antenna Production Project’ with Turkcell, today started to serve in live networks,” says Bayram Genccan, Vice President of Communication & Information Technologies at ASELSAN. “We have reached a level where we compete with global competitors. The improvement process will expedite as we receive field information with the installment of antennas in live networks. With Turkcell’s local support, we plan to incorporate our experience and knowledge in 4.5G to develop products during the 5G era.
In the first installment phase 1000 4.5G mobile antennas will be configured to Turkcell’s 250 base stations by the end of the year.