The tender documents for the permit tender for the establishment, operation and provision of services of 5G mobile electronic communications infrastructure were submitted to the tender commission by representatives of Turkcell İletişim Hizmetleri AŞ, TTMobil İletişim Hizmetleri AŞ (Türk Telekom) and Vodafone Telekomünikasyon AŞ.
Before the tender at the Information Technology and Communications Authority (BTK), Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Ömer Fatih Sayan, BTK and Tender Commission Chairman Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu received information about the preparations from the commission members.
Representatives from Türk Telekom, Turkcell and Vodafone involved in the tender submitted their bid documents to the tender commission.
The tender was conducted for 11 frequencies in two different bands, based on the minimum values determined for each frequency package.
During the tender, the bidders' sealed bids were first opened and the tender continued with the open tender method. At this point, verbal offers were obtained from the bidders.
The prize resulting from the tender will be paid by the winners of the tender in three equal installments in accordance with the procedure established in the tender documents to be prepared by BTK.
If the installments are not paid on time or incomplete, default interest of twice the annual rate of 7.93 percent will be charged for the amount and duration of non-payment. If payment is not made within 30 days from the due date at the specified interest rate, procedures will be initiated by BTK to terminate the relevant authorization.
In addition, operators will pay 5 percent of their gross revenue each year to include existing permits expiring on April 30, 2029 in the 5G tender.
The approval period runs until December 31, 2042.
The provision of services with the new technology will be possible from April 1, 2026 on the frequencies to be awarded after the tender.
“A new era begins with 5G”
Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu, Chairman of BTK and Tender Commission, said in his opening speech that it was a historic moment.
Stating that Türkiye entered the 5G era with this tender, Karagözoğlu noted that this is not only a technological transition but also a strategic turning point for the country.
Stating that a new era will begin with 5G, Karagözoğlu said: “The electronic communications sector will become the basic infrastructure for machine-to-machine communication, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, autonomous systems and robotics technologies. Thanks to 5G, M2M, i.e. machine-to-machine communication, and IoT, i.e. Internet of Things, applications will be more effective than ever, and users will experience a high-quality, uninterrupted digital experience. The impact of 5G will not be.” is limited only to the area of communication.” he said.
Stating that the most important criterion for 5G is national and national studies, Karagözoğlu recalled that in the 3G tenders in 2008, our operators had to make part of their investments from companies with R&D centers in Turkey.
Emphasizing that they strengthened this approach in the 4.5G tenders in 2015, requiring 45 percent of investments to be provided by domestically certified products, Karagözoğlu explained that they have entered a period of intensive work to support domestic producers and create a lasting domestic ecosystem in the industry.
In this regard, Karagözoğlu stated that they are working on the “End-to-End Local and National 5G Communication Network Project” (UUYM5G) with 14 companies and 3 mobile operators that are members of the Communication Technologies Cluster (HTK), saying, “We developed this project to meet the hardware and software requirements of 5G with local and national facilities. Within the scope of this project, which is being carried out with the support of our Ministry, BTK and TÜBİTAK, it is crucial for 5G infrastructures.” “We have developed the critical 5G core network, 5G base station, 5G-specific management, service and operational software, as well as the first prototypes of Radiolink products operating in the 7-13 GHz band, entirely using domestic resources.” gave his assessment.
Pointing out that the Ministry of Commerce's HİSER program was put into effect to increase the export capacity of HTK member companies, Karagözoğlu stated that in this context, 70 percent of the activities such as training, consulting, foreign connections and purchasing are now handled by the ministry.
Karagözoğlu said: “With the studies carried out, the localization rate in 4.5G networks has exceeded the targeted 45 percent and reached 52 percent. With the new tender, we aim to increase this rate to 60 percent. In addition, we stipulate that 30 percent of the hardware used in the networks must be completely national, that is, products whose intellectual and property rights belong to Türkiye.” he said.
Pointing out that the total frequency band currently allocated to the three operators is 549.2 MHz, Karagözoğlu said:
“With the completed tender, the frequency band allocated to our operators increases by 400 MHz. This represents an increase in our capacity by 72.8 percent. Our operators will offer 5G services nationwide from April 1, 2026 as part of their new authorizations.”
Offers for packages A1, A2 and A3
In the tender, offers for the 700 MHz frequency were initially evaluated.
For the A1, A2 and A3 packages, Turkcell made a closed offer of $429 million, Vodafone $426 million and Türk Telekom $425 million.
Turkcell, Vodafone and Türk Telekom took part in the oral part of the offer. However, all three operators have not increased their sealed bids.
In the 5G tender, Turkcell made the highest bid for the A1 package with 700 MHz frequency at $429 million, Vodafone for the A2 package at $426 million and Türk Telekom for the A3 package at $425 million.
Turkcell, the highest bidder, won the A1 package and the right to choose first place in the group. Turkcell chose the range 723-733 MHz and 778-788 MHz.
Vodafone, which won the A2 package and the second place vote, preferred the 713-723 MHz and 768-778 MHz bands.
The remaining spots in the A3 package and in the 700 MHz band belonged to Türk Telekom due to its third highest bid. The 703-713 MHz and 758-768 MHz ranges were taken over by Türk Telekom.
Thus, the total bid for packages A1, A2 and A3 amounted to 1 billion 280 million dollars.
Offers for B1, B2 and B3 packages
Bids were received for three separate 1×80 MHz bandwidths on the 3.5 GHz frequency.
For the B1, B2 and B3 packages on this frequency, Türk Telekom submitted a closed offer of $209 million, Vodafone $201 million and Turkcell $200 million.
All three companies participated in the oral offer phase of the tender.
This phase began with the highest bid of the completed round, $209 million.
While Turkcell bid $214 million for the packages, Vodafone and Türk Telekom did not increase their bids in sealed envelopes.
Accordingly, the highest offer came from Turkcell at $214 million, while Türk Telekom and Vodafone offered $209 million and $201 million, respectively.
While the bidding process for the packages was completed, Turkcell was awarded the B1 package, Türk Telekom for the B2 package and Vodafone for the B3 package, depending on the offer size.
Thus, the total bid amount for the B1, B2 and B3 packages was set at $624 million.
After the tendering process for all packages has been completed, the location in the frequency band will be selected.
During the tender, Turkcell submitted the highest bid for the B4 package at $187 million, for B5 at $186 million and for B6 at $208 million. Türk Telekom submitted the highest bid of $212 million for the B7 package and $248 million for the B8 package.
The total amount of winning bids was 3 billion 534 million dollars
With these offers, the total amount of winning bids for 11 packages in 2 frequency bands was 3 billion 534 million dollars, including VAT.
Minister Uraloğlu thanked
In his post on his social media account, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said: “We held our 5G tender today, which will take Türkiye even further forward in communications.”
Minister Uraloğlu thanked Turkcell, Türk Telekom and Vodafone and emphasized that 5G will make a great contribution to the economy.
Today we held our 5G tender, which will take Türkiye even further forward in communications.
As part of the 5G tender;
???? Our target of $2 billion 125 million, which we set as a minimum value, reached $3 billion 534 million with VAT.
It will make a huge contribution to our economy… pic.twitter.com/B2N30icoAE
— Abdulkadir URALOĞLU (@a_uraloglu) October 16, 2025
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