Turkey's Turkcell plans to invest to prepare for 5G rollout

Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri

22/03/2024 08:00

ISTANBUL, March 22 (Reuters) - Turkish telecom operator
Turkcell  TCELL.IS  plans to ramp up investment this year to
prepare its new data centre and grid for 5G services, the
company's chief executive Ali Taha Koc said.
    The company pencilled in an amount equal to almost a quarter
of its revenue this year for investments, Koc also said, adding
that the main reasons for that are the data centre, solar power
plant and 5G network preparation.
    "The most important of them all is to be ready for 5G. We
need to install fibre optic cables to base stations so that they
can handle high capacity that is necessary for 5G. We need to
prepare our infrastructure. We are heavily investing in our
grid, that is why our capex is high," Koc said.
    Speaking to reporters late on Thursday, Koc also said they
will look at the foreign investor interest for the planned
initial public offerings of Superonline, Global Tower and
Paycell.
    Koc said the current market conditions do not pose an
environment for the correct valuation of these units for a
public offering.

 (Reporting by Can Sezer and Ebru Tuncay;
Writing by Ezgi Erkoyun;
Editing by Daren Butler)
 ((ezgi.erkoyun@thomsonreuters.com; +90-212-350 7051; Reuters
Messaging: ezgi.erkoyun.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net;))