Turkey: E-communication saw $1.8B investments in 2018

<p>By Arife Yildiz Unal</p> <p>ANKARA (AA) – Turkey's enterprises' investments totaled 9.4 billion Turkish liras ($1.78 billion) in the electronic communication sector last year, the country’s transport and infrastructure minister said.</p> <p>The sector's net sales reached 58 billion Turkish liras ($11 billion) in 2018, up by 15.4% compared with the previous year, Cahit Turhan told Anadolu Agency.</p> <p>GSM companies' incomes were 45 billion Turkish liras ($8.5 billion) in 2018, increasing 14.1% versus 2018, he added.</p> <p>&quot;As of the end of last year, the number of mobile subscribers reached 80.1 million in Turkey,&quot; Turhan noted.</p> <p> </p> <p>The mobile subscriber penetration rate also reached 99%, he added.</p> <p>Monthly talk time averaged 444 minutes per subscriber in Turkey, which is ranked as the first in the EU with this figure.</p> <p>&quot;The number of our broadband subscribers rose 8.2% to reach 74.5 million as of the end of 2018,&quot; the minister said.</p> <p> <p>*Writing by Gokhan Ergocun</p>