Turkish cellcos collaborate with state defence firm on 4.5G base station development

Turkish state-run defence company ASELSAN and mobile operators Turkcell, Turk Telekom and Vodafone Turkey have cooperated to develop a homegrown base station antenna to be used in 4.5G networks in the country, reports Hurriyetdailynews.com. Sector minister Ahmet Arslan attended the signature ceremony for the domestic base station project on 26 January at the ‘5G and Beyond Technologies Conference’, whilst ASELSAN’s general manager Faik Eken said in a statement: ‘Our base station is undergoing hundreds of tests in operator labs. These efforts are coming to an end and they will be set up on live network[s] soon.’ Kaan Terzioglu, Turkcell’s CEO, said the project partners were ‘working non-stop … to make Turkey a leading country in development and production of next generation communication technologies.’ Turk Telekom CEO Paul Doany added that his company wanted to test the domestic base station antenna on its network ‘as soon as possible’. Colman Deegan, CEO of Vodafone Turkey, said the UK-owned cellco is supporting the state’s efforts aimed at creating a communication sector with a larger domestic production rate and its steps to develop a locally-produced system.