Ed. Note: The original version of this story referenced the Camlica Tower as being the tallest broadcast tower in Europe. The Ostankino Tower in Russia, the Kiev TV Tower in Ukraine and the Riga Radio and TV Tower in Latvia all stand higher.
Inspired by the Camlica Tower of Istanbul — the tallest structure in the city — Turkey announced it will build similar towers in 30 metropolitan areas there under a new infrastructure project.
The Hürriyet Daily News reported July 7 the announcement from Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu on the “30 Provinces Common Tower Infrastructure Project.”
The cities on the list include Ankara, Balıkesir, İzmir, Trabzon, Adana, Sivas, Kayseri, Antalya, Gaziantep, Konya, Diyarbakır and Samsun.
The minister said it is part of an initiative that aims to modernize Turkey’s broadcast infrastructure. No cost or timeline was provided in his statement.
The report said that the new towers will provide broadcast services to both analog and digital broadcasters in a centralized environment, replacing outdated and disparate antenna sites.
Uraloğlu noted the energy efficiency of the new towers, saying that it will be increased by “more than 10 times.” He added that the project is intended to eliminate “visual pollution in urban landscapes” and also offer safer emissions for area residents.
Citing the appearance of the Camlica Tower, the minister said the towers in the 30 cities — each located in different provinces — would feature “modern, architecturally integrated silhouettes.”
Twelve Turkish broadcasters are broadcasting in the DAB+ standard from the tower in Istanbul, which stands in total at 587 meters above sea level. The country announced its adoption of the digital broadcast technology in the winter.
In service since 2018, Camlica has the capacity to broadcast 100 stations simultaneously from one tower, which the Turkish ministry says is a first worldwide. There are 98 FM stations that broadcast there, according to data from fmdx.org.
