Turkey’s highly anticipated 5G spectrum tender concluded on Thursday with a total of $2.95 billion in winning bids, as the nation’s three main telecom operators — Turkcell, Turk Telekom, and Vodafone — secured vital frequencies across the 700 MHz and 3.5 GHz bands.
Turkcell emerged as the biggest spender, placing the top bid of $429 million for the A1 package in the 700 MHz band and acquiring four additional blocks in the 3.5 GHz range, bringing its total to $1.22 billion.
Turk Telekom won the A3 package for $425 million and two blocks in the 3.5 GHz spectrum, with total bids of $1.1 billion. Vodafone secured the A2 package for $426 million and one 3.5 GHz block, spending $627 million overall.
The rollout of 5G services will begin in April 2026, starting in major urban centers before expanding nationwide. The tender not only allocated new frequencies but also extended the rights for existing 2G, 3G, and 4.5G networks until 2042.
The auction, overseen by Turkey’s Transport and Infrastructure Ministry, required a minimum bid of $2.13 billion (excluding VAT) across all packages. Analysts expect telecom firms to launch multi-year, multi-billion-dollar investments to upgrade their networks.
Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said the first 5G signal will be launched on April 1, beginning in densely populated cities and reaching nationwide coverage in about a year.
The last major mobile frequency auction in 2015 raised €4 billion ($4.66 billion) for 4.5G services.