This blog post was published under the 2015 to 2024 Conservative government

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Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Part of UK in Turkey

17th November 2015

Business in Turkey: good news

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Three Turkish mobile phone companies bid for frequencies to roll out a new high-tech service known in Turkey as 4.5G.  Billions of euro change hands, and the companies walk away with a variety of packages and bandwidth allocations.  Who wins?

I wrote a blog last February called “Business in Turkey: The rules of the Game”.  I noted the importance for all countries of “a level playing field” in winning the competition to secure foreign direct investment.

“A level playing field” means, in business, all companies involved in an activity having equal chances.

The good news is that the frequency auctions held on 26 August, were widely held to be free and fair – the embodiment of “a level playing field”.  The outcome is important for Turkey.

The auction means Turkey has taken an important step in its goal of becoming a competitive global economy, based on modern communications technology.  The new frequencies will make possible more advanced broadband technologies, boosting investment and employment and speeding up the digital revolution to underpin Turkish economic success.  All three companies say they are delighted.

Second, the auction, by demonstrating a “level playing field”, sends an important signal to overseas investors about the conditions for doing business in Turkey.  The fairness and transparency of the auction should help boost future inward investment.

So the answer to the question of “who won the 4.5G auction?” is “Turkey won”.

Follow Leigh Turner on Twitter  @LeighTurnerFCO

About Leigh Turner

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of…

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of the UN and other organisations; stories here will reflect that.

About me: I arrived in Vienna in August 2016 for my second posting in this wonderful city, having first served here in the mid-1980s. My previous job was as HM Consul-General and Director-General for Trade and Investment for Turkey, Central Asia and South Caucasus based in Istanbul.

Further back: I grew up in Nigeria, Exeter, Lesotho, Swaziland and Manchester before attending Cambridge University 1976-79. I worked in several government departments before joining the Foreign Office in 1983.

Keen to go to Africa and South America, I’ve had postings in Vienna (twice), Moscow, Bonn, Berlin, Kyiv and Istanbul, plus jobs in London ranging from the EU Budget to the British Overseas Territories.

2002-6 I was lucky enough to spend four years in Berlin running the house, looking after the children (born 1992 and 1994) and doing some writing and journalism.

To return to Vienna as ambassador is a privilege and a pleasure. I hope this blog reflects that.

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