In cooperation with the Ministry of Transportation and Communication, the BTK aims to assist Turkey’s mobile operators in bringing all of Turkey’s population mobile coverage by the end of 2010, including coverage along government roads and railways.
Acarer reveled that “it’s not economical for mobile operators to invest in infrastructure for places with populations below 500 to bring them coverage. By the end of this year we will make a comprehensive list of places without coverage, and the ministry’s plan will bring all places with a population of less than 500 people mobile coverage by the end of 2010.” According to Acarer, the costs -- in the form of incentives for mobile operators -- of bringing this technology will be covered by the Ministry of Transportation and Communication.
Acarer also noted that only 172 cities with a population of between 500 and 1,000 did not have coverage and that they hoped to bring these places into the coverage area by the end of this year. He added that 84.7 percent of Turkey’s geography was under mobile coverage areas, whereas 99 percent of Turkey’s population had coverage and thus access to GSM networks.
