Important representatives of the information technologies world gathered at the iftar program organized by ULAK Haberleşme at BTK.
The iftar invitation was attended by Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu, President of the Information Technologies and Communication Authority (BTK), Celal Sami Tüfekçi, Chairman of the Board of ULAK Haberleşme and Deputy President of the Defense Industry, Metin Balcı, General Manager of ULAK Haberleşme, and numerous guests.
Following the iftar meal, Deputy Minister Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan addressed the guests, emphasizing that Turkey has reached a point today with tremendous opportunities. Highlighting that they are the greatest guides of the "National Technology Initiative" launched by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Sayan stated, “In this regard, the ULAK project, implemented by our three highly capable companies in the technology field—Aselsan, Netaş, and Argela consortium—has become a project that swells our chests with pride. Today, as a country, we have a company capable of producing domestic and national base stations at high standards. I believe this is a tremendous gain for our country. With the ULAK project, which is of great importance in reducing our country's external dependency on mobile communication network equipment and thus our current account deficit, the design and production of a 4.5G base station was achieved for the first time entirely with domestic and national resources. When this project started, perhaps many people did not believe it could succeed. However, at the point we have reached today, we have a product that is at least as capable as its competitors.” With these words, he conveyed ULAK's success.
Deputy Minister Sayan: The Path to a Strong Country Lies Through Domestic and National Production
Expressing his belief that as a country we can achieve anything, Sayan said, “We need to crown this success we have achieved in base station production by producing other needed products with domestic and national resources.” Noting that with the 5G technology approaching at a running pace, we are on the threshold of a great transformation in every field from communication to industrial production, education to health, transportation to media, Sayan added that the path to being a strong country lies through trusting in our country's resources and our sweat as national and domestic.
President Karagözoğlu: 5G Will Open the Doors to a Completely Different World
BTK President Karagözoğlu also emphasized the importance of 5G in his speech. Stating that 5G, one of BTK's top priority areas, will open the doors to a completely different world, Karagözoğlu said, “5G and Beyond will provide us with a standard mobile broadband technology that enables data transmission up to 1000 times faster than current data speeds in the near future. As BTK, we are conducting our studies to transition to 5G with the highest possible domestic and national ratio. As you know, the widespread adoption of domestic and national production in every field is our red line. In the changing and developing world, keeping up with technological advancements is important, but for us, producing our own technology is a matter of great significance.”
Drawing attention to the importance of the developments we have reached today, Karagözoğlu said, “For this reason, to truly reap the rewards of these efforts, reduce costs, rapidly add new features, and increase capacity, we must achieve the highest possible level of domesticality on the path to 5G. In this regard, we are ready to provide all necessary support for the significant expansion of the usage areas of ULAK, Turkey's first domestic and national base station. We see every day that passes without progress and development as a major loss for ourselves. We evaluate every effort we undertake as an opportunity for domestication and nationalization for our present and future,” concluding his speech.