Türkiye's telecommunications giant Turkcell announced Wednesday its participation in six new international R&D projects supported under Europe's most prestigious and competitive programs, thus again demonstrating its strength in R&D and innovation.
The company will contribute to 3D-NET, MAGIC-6G, and FUTURE-6G, which focus on 6G technologies; SAFARI and UNIFIER, which aim to strengthen critical digital infrastructure; and RESURRECTION, which supports sustainable digital transformation, it said in a statement.
Turkcell will also undertake critical roles such as project coordination, technical leadership, and ownership of use cases.
Commenting on the involvement in programs, Vehbi Çağrı Güngör, Turkcell’s chief network technologies officer, said: “Our participation in six international projects carried out under Europe’s most respected research programs is a strong indication of the confidence placed in Turkcell’s international R&D capabilities.”
“By taking active roles in these projects, we are helping build the digital infrastructures of the future and contributing to the development of global standards.”
Like this, Turkcell is strengthening its position within the international R&D ecosystem.
The projects in which Turkcell is participating focus on strategic areas including 6G technologies, artificial intelligence, the resilience of critical digital infrastructure, emergency communications, and sustainable technologies.
Turkcell will play an active role at various stages of these projects, from developing next-generation technologies to validating them under real-world field conditions and transferring them into international standards, the company said.
Supported under the European Union’s Horizon Europe Programme, the MAGIC-6G project aims to develop next-generation technologies using artificial intelligence that will make networks smarter, more autonomous, and more sustainable with the arrival of 6G.
The project brings together nine partners from Türkiye, Germany, Sweden, Greece, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Finland.
Turkcell will contribute by developing an LLM-based service specifically tailored to telecommunications operators. The project aims to make network and service management processes more autonomous and dynamic, and Turkcell will also contribute to the development of next-generation algorithms supporting this approach.
The 3D-NET project, approved under the CELTIC-Next cluster within the EUREKA framework and supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBITAK), focuses on the 6G goal of “connectivity everywhere.”
The project aims to integrate terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks, providing connectivity in areas with limited coverage and strengthening communications continuity during crises. Turkcell will contribute to the development of three-dimensional network architectures and play an active role in bringing the solutions developed through the project to international standards.
The FUTURE-6G project, the first project from Türkiye accepted under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Industrial Doctoral Networks within the Horizon Europe Programme, will focus on developing next-generation AI-driven technologies. It will also train expert researchers capable of implementing these technologies.
Through collaboration among leading European telecommunications operators, technology providers, and research institutions, the project will establish a direct bridge between academia and industry.
Turkcell will contribute to solutions in autonomous network management, AI-supported decision-making mechanisms, and trustworthy AI systems. The initiative will also help bring researchers with international experience to Türkiye over the long term.
Supported under the Horizon Europe Programme, the SAFARI project will focus on next-generation resilient infrastructure solutions that enable critical infrastructures such as telecommunications, energy, and transportation to operate together and without interruption during crises.
Alongside AI-supported decision-making mechanisms, the project will develop structures that enable data from different systems to be used together. It aims to reduce dependence on centralized systems and maintain operational continuity during crises.
Turkcell will lead the development of resilient and autonomous communication solutions designed to withstand network disruptions and support the continuity of 112 emergency call services.
The UNIFIER project, which will be carried out under Turkcell's international coordination, aims to ensure that communications remain operational even during emergencies in which infrastructure has been damaged, through a hybrid communications infrastructure.
As part of the project, an integrated communications infrastructure will be established to enable teams from different institutions and countries to work together without language or technology barriers. The solutions developed will be tested under real-world field conditions in Türkiye and Europe.
The RESURRECTION project, which has been selected for support under the Horizon Europe Programme, will contribute to the development of sustainable and circular manufacturing technologies.
The project will use artificial intelligence, robotic systems, and digital technologies to develop solutions for assessing product condition, automated disassembly, managing reuse processes, and achieving end-to-end traceability.
Turkcell will contribute to making the remanufacturing and reuse of modems more efficient and will lead efforts to scale these solutions across different industries. As the owner of the telecommunications use case in the project, Turkcell will develop innovative solutions for the remanufacturing and reuse of modems.
AI will be used to analyze the condition of devices and determine the most appropriate use scenario. Robotic systems will then be used to automate the disassembly, repair, and preparation of devices for reuse. This is intended to make the processes faster, more efficient, and more sustainable.
“At Turkcell, our priority is to provide our customers with the best possible service while also supporting the technology ecosystem. These projects, spanning areas from 6G and artificial intelligence to the resilience of critical infrastructure and sustainable technologies, demonstrate the diversity of Turkcell’s R&D approach,” Güngör said.
“Our participation in six international projects conducted under Europe’s leading research programs, including critical roles such as project coordination and technical leadership, is an important indication of the confidence placed in our international R&D capabilities. Through these initiatives, we aim to shape the communication technologies of the future while contributing to Türkiye’s technology ecosystem by bringing the technologies we develop into international standards.”
