Avea

Turkish lender I?bank has begun negotiations for the sale of its 7.44 percent stake in mobile operator Avea, the bank said in a filing to the stock exchange on April 22.

The title of this article should have been "Zaytung and 5G or you can surf the net faster as long as you behave as I want you to." President Tayyip Erdo?an spoke about Turkey's mobile network at an event earlier this week. He said Turkey is on 3G, whereas many countries have already begun installing 5G and LTE networks.

Türk Telekom offered on April 22 to buy the remaining $300 million stake it doesn?t already own in mobile company Avea, a deal that would allow it to avoid having to float the struggling wireless firm.

Two members of the press from Turkey's Cihan News Agency were banned accreditation for a meeting hosting Turkish first lady Emine Erdo?an on April 20 in Istanbul.

Turkey's defense procurement institution has unveiled a critical component in the country's establishment of a 4G network, which is expected to be operational by the first day of 2016.

Turks spent more than 35.5 billion Turkish Liras ($13.3 billion) on telecommunications last year, up from 32.2 billion liras ($12.2 billion) in 2013, according to a report released by the Information and Communications Technologies Authority (BTK) on March 27.

Over 80 percent of the amount spent went on Turkey's top four telecommunication companies, the report stated.

Turkey's telecommunications regulator has set 2.3 billion euros ($2.44 billion) as the minimum price that mobile operators must pay to secure frequency bands for a new 4G network.

Turkey expects to complete a tender for fourth-generation (4G) mobile data services in May and be able to offer the service to consumers by the end of this year, Transport and Communications Minister Lütfi Elvan said on March 4.