Turkey Financial News

Turkey’s leading mobile operator, Turkcell, denied on Thursday there was US pressure on the company to abandon a takeover of a Syrian operator, saying that the talks were continuing.

“The US has put no written or spoken pressure on Turkcell or made such a statement … There is no warning on investment (in Syria),” said one Turkcell official, who declined to be named. Diplomats and Arab financiers on Wednesday told Reuters the US Treasury Department was warning American investors in Turkcell, which is listed on the İstanbul and New York bourse, about the company’s plan to buy leading Syrian mobile operator Syriatel. (more…)

The United States is putting pressure on Turkish mobile phone operator Turkcell to abandon a $1 billion takeover of a cellphone company owned by a Syrian tycoon targeted by US sanctions, diplomats and Arab financiers said on Wednesday.

The US Treasury Department is warning American investors in Turkcell, which is listed on the İstanbul and New York bourse, about the company’s plan to buy the leading Syrian operator Syriatel, they told Reuters.

Syriatel is at least 69 percent owned by Rami Makhlouf, the cousin of President Bashar al-Assad. Washington imposed high profile sanctions on Makhlouf in February for alleged involvement in public corruption in Syria as relations between the Damascus government and the United States plummeted. (more…)

Turkey’s Telecommunications Board announced it will implement “number portability,” which will allow customers to change their mobile phone operators without changing their numbers, in November.

Starting the infrastructure works for number portability, the system is expected to be operational as soon as next month, said Tayfun Acarer, chief of the Board, during a conference in the Mediterranean city of Mersin Monday.

According to the regulation; Turkcell, Avea and Vodafone, Turkey’s three cell phone operators, will prepare for the system for the next six months. Thus, as of November, customers will be able to choose the most suitable operator for their personal needs. (more…)

Türk Telekom, the country’s land line carrier monopoly, has announced that it will make a public offering of a 15 percent stake of its state-owned shares.

Privatization Administration (ÖİB) President Metin Kilci and Türk Telekom vice general managers Erem Demircan and Celalettin Dinçer held a press conference yesterday regarding the public offering. (more…)

The number of Internet subscribers in Turkey has surpassed 5 million, according to Türk Telekom, Turkey’s largest provider of national and long-distance telecommunication services.

A written statement from Türk Telekom yesterday said the increase in the number of broadband subscribers was due to the investments by Türk Telekom in communications infrastructure around the country. (more…)

A major player in the mobile device sector, Nokia extends its reach into the depths of the Turkish market, as the company opened its 23rd Nokia shop in Ankara Friday. Nokia’s Turkey chief Imfred de Jong stated that they increased market share in Turkey to 39 percent, a figure greater than its share on the global market.
“I think that in first quarter we showed good year on year growth, we have 27 percent volume growth compared to same period last year. (more…)

Turkey’s GSM operator Turkcell will bid for state-owned Belarussian Telecommunication Network (BeST), the company said in a statement on Friday.

Turkcell wants to purchase majority shares of the Belorussian company.

Turkcell is the leading mobile communications provider in Turkey with 34.8 million postpaid and prepaid customers as of March 31st, 2007 operating in a three player market with a market share of approximately 59 percent as of March 31st, 2007 (Source: The Telecommunications Authority). Turkcell is one of the top three operators in Europe in subscriber base. (more…)

Number portability, which allows mobile users to switch to another mobile carrier without changing their cell phone number, will start in Turkey in October.

Telecommunications Board (TK) President Tayfun Acarer held a press conference yesterday on the institution’s plans for 2008. He said preliminary studies on number portability will be completed by the end of April and that they would give mobile providers six months to adapt to the new system. (more…)