New president appointed to Turkish communications board ahead of key 4.5G tender

ANKARA

Ömer Fatih Sayan was appointed the head of the Information and Communications Technologies Authority (BTK) on Aug. 25, ahead of a key telecommunications tender on Aug. 26.

Sayan, who was already the acting president of the unit since the beginning of this summer, received his undergraduate degree in electronic engineering from several universities in Turkey and Britain, and a graduate degree in electric and electronic engineering and biomedical engineering from Istanbul University and Munich University. Born in 1977, he has a PhD degree in biomedical engineering from Istanbul University. 

Starting his professional career at the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality in 1995, Sayan worked in several private companies in Turkey, Germany and the United States. He was also an adviser and principal adviser for then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan between the years 2007-2014, according to Sayan’s resume on the BTK’s website. 

Turkey will make a 4.5G tender in Ankara on Aug. 26 to sell 20 separate frequency segments at a minimum value of around 2.3 billion euros. 

A tender for 4G technologies had been announced earlier, but the tender was delayed for three months last May. The tender was then announced to be held for dubbed 4.5G technologies with several revisions in the tender documents to increase the level of domestic research and development elements in the sector, according to officials, after President Erdoğan’s harsh criticism of 4G technology, saying Turkey should skip directly from 3G to 5G in two years.