One step closer to local 5G…

The demo of the “TR713-7Ghz Radiolink” developed within the scope of the “End-to-End Local and National 5G Communication Network Project” was held on October 22 at Ostim Technopark. In addition to the Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank, the Presidency Digital Transformation Office President Dr. Ali Taha Koç, Information Technologies and Communication Authority (BTK) President Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu, TÜBİTAK Technology and Innovation Support Programs Presidency (TEYDEB) President Mehmet Aslan, OSTİM Chairperson Orhan Aydın and Havelsan General Manager Dr. Mehmet Akif Nacar also attended the ceremony. Varank emphasized that within the scope of the “End-to-End Local and National 5G Communication Network Project”, it is aimed to develop critical components locally and nationally with public-private cooperation. Before the event, Varank visited the R&D department of the Nanotek company in Ostim Technopark and received information about the projects carried out here. Then, the presentation of the radiolink device was made and the test was started. Within the scope of the radiolink demo, 4 4K resolution videos were transmitted from the base station located 12 kilometers away and a successful meeting was made over Havelsan’s video conference system “Dialog”.

Rural radiolink tender will be completed in the first quarter of 2021

In the statement he made after the demo, Minister Varank underlined that the “End-to-End Local and National 5G Communication Network Project” has been continuing for about 3 years and stated that they successfully performed the radiolink test, which is an important part of the project. Varank said that radiolink provides high data transmission at long distances by connecting structures such as base stations that cannot physically connect to each other with radio frequencies and reminding that this product was developed in cooperation with different companies and public institutions and that they have been carrying out the TEYDEB project of TÜBİTAK with the Communication Technologies Cluster (HTK) for a long time. Varank stated that: “ULAK local base stations compatible with 4G network are currently produced locally and nationally and are used in our country. We take our measures to encourage local and national production regarding the 5G network. Here, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure and BTK have important decisions. In line with these decisions, we will be able to produce 5G products to be used in the coming period, locally and nationally. Today we have taken an important step. We actualized a successful test, we saw that 4K videos can come from 12 kilometers successfully.”

Expressing that the Presidency Digital Transformation Office does the coordination of the project, he added: “The main sponsors of this business are the private sector and our universities. The success of our project will eliminate a significant deficit in Turkey and we will find a solution to a critical security issue. With this successful project and products, we are able to use our local and national devices throughout Turkey.” Saying that they want local and national products such as radiolink to be used by operators, Varank said that: “BTK has a decision regarding the products being local and national. Some companies use products from abroad or that are from global brands but produced in Turkey. In the next steps of our project, we will question the products’ being actually domestic or not, are they produced in Turkey or are they integrated somehow.” Informing that the negotiations with the operators are continuing, Varank stated that in the next period, the radiolink tender will be carried out especially for the rural areas without internet, all elements will be put on the table here and pointed out that they will ensure the use of local and national products. He added that “Probably, the tender will be finalized in the first quarter of next year.”

Radiolink will be an indispensable part of all 4G and 5G infrastructures

Dr. Ali Taha Koç, underlining that one of the four layers of the project is radiolink, stated that: “Radiolink will be an indispensable part of 4G and 5G infrastructure. It is local and national; thus it is convenient to our ‘Turkey’s data stays in Turkey’ motto. In this sense, we will continue ensuring the coordination. We will make every effort to make the other 3 layers localized and be used by all our operators.” Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu pointed out that they are working on the organization of the business and the operators to incorporate the products produced within the scope of the project, and they are proud to bring companies together with HTK. Emphasizing that they will work for the companies in the cluster to achieve serious success in the international arena, Karagözoğlu noted that they also made serious efforts to train human resources in 5G.