Turkey’s First Live 5G Trial Performed by Turkcell and Samsung

Turkcell has performed the first live 5G trial in Turkey. From left, Turkcell CTO Gediz Sezgin, President of Samsung Electronics Turkey Dae Hyun Kim, Istanbul Technical University President Prof. Dr. Mehmet Karac, Turkcell CEO Kaan Terzioglu, Head of Samsung Networks Europe Thomas Riedel (Photo: Business Wire)

ISTANBUL--()--Turkcell (NYSE:TKC) (BIST:TCELL) and the Samsung’s collaboration blazed a trail in Turkey. Turkcell, striving for Turkey to be one of the first countries to use 5G, and Samsung, offering 5G solutions, organized an event to experience live 5G in Turkey. Guests of the event got the opportunity to witness live 5G for the first time in the experience zones of UHD Live Streaming, Cloud Gaming, 360 degree Camera and VR streaming by using Samsung's 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) solutions, combined with the superior infrastructure of Turkcell.
Thanks to 5G FWA technologies, high-quality Gigabit connections can be made with 5G in homes and offices where there is no fiber infrastructure. In addition to Maltepe Plaza, Samsung’s 5G FWA solutions have been tested in Istanbul Technical University and Kadikoy, a dense province of Istanbul.

“Our goal is clear: Turkey will be one of the firsts”

During his speech at the event, Turkcell CEO Kaan Terzioglu said “As Turkey’s Turkcell we are proud to be a pioneer in several fields concerning 5G. We reached record speeds in one of the world’s first 5G tests, which took place under the roof of Turkcell. To lay the groundwork for Turkey to be a major player in the field, we are engaged in scientific cooperation with universities and collaborating with the world’s technology giants, all aimed at making Turkey one of the first countries to implement 5G. We have gained valuable experience in infrastructure and product deployment, service development, making network improvements, and offering the latest technologies by cooperating with global players. The live 5G experience that we experience today is the concrete example of the MoU we signed with Samsung in South Korea in February. Today, with 5G, we have shown that the latest generation of high-speed wireless access is now possible for our customers. Our goal is clear: to make Turkey one of the first countries in the world with 5G technology. Turkcell established the fastest mobile network of the world, today in Istanbul. 5G is a historic opportunity for Turkey. 5G does not only happen to be a communication technology, but is a total transformation, the digitalization of sectors such as automotive, agriculture, health, and the transformation of industry 4.0.”

During his speech Dae Hyun Kim, President of Samsung Electronics Turkey said, “We are happy to contribute to Turkey’s efforts to embrace the state-of-the-art technologies through initiatives like this one which we successfully put into practice in partnership with Turkcell. Today, we took an important step together with Turkcell in providing the end-users in Turkey our leading 5G technologies, which will be further developed by means of our global investments.”

Turkcell CTO Gediz Sezgin said “We are one of the world's leading operators and we are trying to provide a better network experience with the technologies of the future. When setting up our 4.5G infrastructure, we thought about the future of 5G and set up a compatible system. Our superior infrastructure makes 5G possible in our country. Through collaborations with technology giants like Samsung we will continue our efforts on the commercialization of next-generation technologies and 5G in Turkey. Today, the experience of 5G with all of our guests is a very important step taken in this way.”

Istanbul Technical University President Prof. Dr. Mehmet Karaca stated that “As technology changes and transforms, our lives transform as well. The ones who have the data and can analyze it, are leading the world. When we look at the growth of companies, the largest companies today are the telecommunication companies. Today we stand here together with two of the largest companies of the world. Our university is focusing on research projects on infrastructure and latest technological innovations. We are honored to contribute to this project as Istanbul Technical University along with Turkcell and Samsung.”

Back in February 2018, Samsung unveiled the world’s first complete commercial 5G FWA solutions, comprised of 5G radio (access unit and virtualized RAN), 5G routers and next-generation core. Using in-house technology and assets, Samsung has developed the first commercial ASIC-based 5G modems and RFICs. The 5G FWA solutions will enable end-users to have Gigabit speed broadband services without laying down optical fiber. In August, Samsung announced that it will invest $22 billion in four of emerging technologies - 5G, AI, automotive electronics components and biopharmaceuticals globally, over the next three years. (Link)

About Turkcell:
Turkcell is a digital operator headquartered in Turkey, serving its customers with its unique portfolio of digital services along with voice, messaging, data and IPTV services on its mobile and fixed networks. Turkcell Group companies operate in 8 countries – Turkey, Ukraine, Belarus, Northern Cyprus, Germany, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Moldova. Turkcell launched LTE services in its home country on April 1st, 2016, employing LTE-Advanced and 3 carrier aggregation technologies in 81 cities. In 2G and 3G, Turkcell’s population coverage in Turkey is at 99.68% and 98.23%, respectively, as of September 2018. Turkcell offers up to 10 Gbps fiber internet speed with its FTTH services. Turkcell Group reported TRY5.8 billion revenue in Q318 with total assets of TRY45.4 billion as of September 30, 2018. It has been listed on the NYSE and the BIST since July 2000, and is the only NYSE-listed company in Turkey. Read more at www.turkcell.com.tr

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.:
Samsung inspires the world and shapes the future with transformative ideas and technologies. The company is redefining the worlds of TVs, smartphones, wearable devices, tablets, digital appliances, network systems, and memory, system LSl, foundry and LED solutions. For the latest news, please visit the Samsung Newsroom at http://news.samsung.com.

Contacts

Turkcell Corporate Communications
Ali Karakaya
+90 532 210 00 23
ali.karakaya@turkcell.com.tr

Turkcell Corporate Communications
Burak Mergen
+90 532 210 60 20
burak.mergen@turkcell.com.tr

Contacts

Turkcell Corporate Communications
Ali Karakaya
+90 532 210 00 23
ali.karakaya@turkcell.com.tr

Turkcell Corporate Communications
Burak Mergen
+90 532 210 60 20
burak.mergen@turkcell.com.tr