Turkey’s 5G Auction Set to Drive Billion-Dollar Carrier Spending

Turkey will hold its first 5G spectrum auction on Thursday, in a deal worth at least $2.13 billion that’s expected to launch a new round of network spending by the country’s mobile operators.

The tender, which includes 11 frequency packages, will allocate a total 400 megahertz across the 700 MHz and 3.5 GHz bands, a key step that will push carriers to boost investment to roll out next-generation services. It will be open to the country’s three existing mobile operators — Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS, Turk Telekomunikasyon AS and Vodafone Telekomunikasyon AS.