Speaking in Ankara, Özgül said 3G cell phone sales in Turkey were continuing slowly. Noting that only 25 percent of mobile phones introduced to the market support 3G services, he said more than half of mobile phone subscribers lack sufficient information on 3G services. Those who have some information about 3G often believe that the system consists only of video calls.
“We think that with the introduction of 3G, sales of mobile phones compatible with this service will increase in Turkey, and the market will go through a transformation process,” Özgül said, adding that as prices fall, the number of different types of 3G phones will increase in the market. Of course, promotions launched by mobile phone operators will have an effect, the MOBİSAD official continued, adding that he expects sales to jump starting from 2010. Noting that the new system will give phones 20 to 60 times faster Internet access, Özgül said users will be informed of the range of services that will be available soon.
A wireless industry term for a collection of international standards and technologies aimed at increasing efficiency and improving the performance of mobile wireless networks, 3G services include wide-area wireless voice telephone, video calls and wireless data, all in a mobile environment. Compared to 2G and 2.5G services, 3G allows simultaneous use of speech and data services and higher data transfer rates. Thus, 3G networks enable network operators to offer users a wider range of more advanced services.
