Turkey plans to provide 4G services in 2015

Turkish communications minister announced on Wednesday that Turkey plans to initiate the 4G service tender in May and provide the services by the end of 2015.

"We will complete the authorization tender by the end of May and offer services to our citizens by the end of this year," said Lutfi Elvan at an Istanbul conference.

The Turkish information and communication authorities will tender for 800, 900, 1800, 2100 and 2600 megahertz, or Mhz, bandwidths, according to the ministry.

Elvan said that a 10 percent increase in bandwidth penetration by 4G technology would lead to an increase of one percent in the country's GDP growth and boost employment.

4G is the fourth generation of mobile phone technology and follows on from 2G and 3G, according to a definition by U.K. telecoms regulator Ofcom. 4G services will make it much quicker to surf the web on mobile, tablets and laptops.

The 4G network is expected to bring a better service to smartphone users who are increasingly using their handsets for internet access.

The number of internet users via mobile phones is increasing every day and the mobile Internet traffic has increased by 123 percent in 2014, the minister added.

Nevertheless, Turkey's 3G market continues to outperform despite the late launch of services.

The latest data by Information and Communications Technology Authority shows active 3G subscriptions increased 41.4 percent year-on-year to 31.1 million in the third quarter of 2014. Endit