Turkcell has reached another groundbreaking milestone in its 5G efforts. Turkcell and Ericsson have successfully made Turkey’s first standard-compliant 5G call in Istanbul. Thanks to its 5G-ready network, Turkcell has become one of the first operators in the world to achieve 3GPP-compliant 5G data call.
Turkcell have stepped up its 5G game through this new collaboration. In a joint effort with Ericsson, Turkcell has achieved Turkey’s first end-to-end, 3GPP-compliant, multivendor 5G data call on 3.5 GHz band. This call, the first of its kind in Turkey and a rare achievement for operators across the globe, used Ericsson Radio Systemsolutions and Ericsson Cloud Core and test devices from ecosystem partners over Turkcell’s 5G test network. As there are currently no commercial terminals available that support the 5G technology, data transmissions were carried out using Intel® Mobile Trial Platform device and Turkcell’s 5G-compatible SIM card. The tests in Istanbul used the 5G systems over Turkcell’s existing Gigabit LTE (4.5G) network, proving that Turkcell’s network is ready for 5G.
Gediz Sezgin, EVP for Network Technologies at Turkcell said: “Preparing for 5G was our core focus in all aspects of our work as we established our 4.5G network, which is today the fastest in the world. Currently, our 4.5G network allows us to offer a number of 5G services in Turkey. This test, which is part of our ongoing partnership with Ericsson, is a key component of our preparation for 5G. Combining our 4.5G network with the 5G technology will enable us to offer the highest-quality and the fastest service in Turkey.”
Rafiah Ibrahim, Head of Ericsson Middle East & Africa said: “Achieving the first multi-vendor 5G data call in Turkey on commercial equipment shows the strength of our close partnership with Turkcell and ambition for evolving towards the next-generation mobile technology 5G. We support Turkcell’s strategy to offer 5G services by applying the latest mobile technologies.”
As long-term partners and R&D collaborators, Ericsson and Turkcell are working together to bring 5G to Turkey and making room for future growth of the telecoms industry in the country.