The cost of 1 year of delay in 5G is 120 billion TL
Vodafone Turkey shared its 2024 evaluation and 2025 targets at the press conference.
Speaking at the meeting, Vodafone Türkiye CEO Engin Aksoy stated that they are the fastest growing operator in Turkey in 2024.
Stating that the real value of the investment they have made as a company to date has exceeded 234.4 billion TL, Aksoy said: “Last year, we invested approximately twice as much in our mobile network compared to the previous year, ensuring a record number of base stations and capacity increases. We have made a record number of base stations and increased capacity so far for the new generation retail transformation of our stores.” We invested more than 410 million TL. The social contribution of our Foundation projects, whose real value was 270 million TL in the 2007-2023 period, was 1.5 billion TL. “As part of our volleyball sponsorship, we made a total infrastructure investment of 9 million TL this season for the 5.5G-supported Hawk’s Eye technology that will be used in all leagues and play-offs. We also signed two important partnerships worth 100 million dollars each in the fields of data center and solar energy.” he said.
5.5G TECHNOLOGY, NOT 5
Emphasizing that one of the most important investment areas for Vodafone in the last year is 5G preparations, Aksoy continued his words as follows:
“We expect the 5G schedule to be officially implemented as soon as possible and the necessary steps to be taken. The technology that we, as Vodafone, will launch will actually be 5.5G technology. 5.5G, an advanced stage of 5G, is not only a faster connection, but also a smarter one.” “It is the cornerstone of a more reliable and more inclusive digital ecosystem. Therefore, it will be an important milestone in Turkey’s digitalization journey.”
Vodafone Türkiye CEO Aksoy stated that they expect the 5G tender to be held in the first half of 2025 and that they are making preparations accordingly. He emphasized that the country’s economy was deprived of a benefit of 120 billion TL due to the 1-year delay of 5G.
Asked whether data packages and prices will increase after the transition to 5G, Aksoy gave the following answer:
“We have seen a very serious increase in data usage in the transition to 4G. We do not expect the same increase in the transition from 4G to 5G. But there will definitely be an increase. The benefits of 5G are very different. Faster internet, lower latency. Much better for our customers.” “We will be offering an experience. Our costs are also important here. Our important components in our costs are energy, infrastructure equipment and employment.”
“WE WANT OUR MONEY TO GO TO INVESTMENT”
Suggesting that the tender price should be a certain proportion of the revenue, Aksoy said, “We want our money to go to investment, to provide better internet to the citizens rather than the tender price. When we look at the European average today, tender revenues correspond to approximately 5 percent of operator revenues. Therefore, operators can invest more easily. Finland is a country where this is very good. You can invest when you pay 1.5 percent of the tender price. “Your money also goes to investment. In Turkey, this rate is 16 percent. With such a high rate, the budgets that companies will allocate to investment are automatically restricted. We want this balance to be observed.”
24.5 MILLION MOBILE SUBSCRIBERS
According to the information shared at the meeting, Vodafone Turkey’s investment in the January-September 2024 period reached 10 billion TL. The company’s service revenues in the April-September 2024 period will be 42.1 billion TL; Profit Before Interest, Depreciation and Tax was 15 billion TL. The number of mobile subscribers of the company reached 25.4 million and the number of fixed broadband subscribers reached 14 million. The number of monthly active customers using digital channels such as Vodafone Yandım and Online Self Service was 17.6 million, while the total monthly interaction of these customers was recorded as 304 million. Vodafone customers’ mobile data usage increased to 2,520 petabytes. The total number of users using the products of the company’s mobile finance solution Vodafone Pay reached 8.3 million, and the number of monthly unique users of its personal digital assistant TOBi reached 8.5 million.
NUMBER OF CORPORATE CUSTOMERS 1.7 MILLION
Operating in the fields of cloud, internet of things, cyber security, corporate infrastructure, sustainability and business continuity under the umbrella of Vodafone Business, Vodafone serves 1.7 million corporate customers in Turkey. Among these customers, there are more than 70 thousand medium and large-scale tradesmen and more than 1.6 million small-scale tradesmen. In the second quarter of the current fiscal year, Vodafone Business Türkiye doubled its revenues and achieved a growth rate of 109.9 percent.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN
In addition, it was shared that Vodafone has touched the lives of 4.4 million people to date with the projects it has carried out through the Vodafone Foundation, which it established in 2007. The social contribution of these projects, whose real value was 270 million TL in the 2007-2023 period, was 1.5 billion TL. Vodafone Foundation taught coding to more than 400 thousand children in 8 years with the “Coding Tomorrow” project carried out in cooperation with Habitat Association. With its new project “Artificial Intelligence Stars”, the Foundation aims to provide artificial intelligence education to 35 thousand students in a year. With the “Digital is My Job” project carried out by the Foundation in partnership with the General Directorate of Lifelong Learning of the Ministry of National Education, Digital Marketing and Digital Literacy training has been provided to nearly 35 thousand female trainees in 21 provinces. On the other hand, the Red Light application, developed to combat violence against women, has been downloaded 379 thousand times to date and has reached an average of 1,000 monthly active users.