Minister of Public Works and Communication Kemal Durust, after a meeting of the Council of Ministers, confirmed that they had initiated work to bring 4.5G mobile data network to the TRNC.
The Council of Ministers which convened on Thursday, gave the green light for a tender to be launched for 4.5G.
Speaking at a press conference after the meeting, Durust explained that the technical work for 4.5G will be carried out by the institute for information technology and communication. He added that it will take more than a year to prepare the ground for 4.5G.
“I don’t know if we will have a third mobile operator in the country but I do want to have the conditions for competition,” he said.
He added that the telecommunication department, which he stressed, will be restructured but not privatised, will have the main license for 4.5G.
“We shall restructure the telecommunications department so that we can obtain faster and better quality service,” Durust said, adding that the new telecommunications department will be a joint private-public enterprise.
Durust also reassured that the rights and jobs of the current telecommunications department employees will be safeguarded during the transition. “They will experience no problems. The privatisation law is quite clear. The main structure and backbone will be state run. The entire fibre optic cable network will belong to the state,” he stressed.
Responding to a question as to whether there will be an increase in mobile phone masts if a third mobile operator company comes to the TRNC, Durust reminded that electromagnetic waves from masts were being routinely measured by the institute for information technologies and communication, to safeguard public health.
BRT