Turkey Financial News

Posted by meb at December 13th, 2008

Vodafone has picked China’s Huawei Technologies (HWT.UL) to supply infrastructure equipment for the global mobile phone operator’s planned third-generation (3G) network in Turkey, a senior executive said on Friday.

Vodafone, Turkcell and Avea, the three GSM operators in Turkey, each won high-speed 3G mobile phone network licenses after the tender held on Nov. 28. Vodafone won the tender for the Type B (35 MHz) license, paying 250 million euros for its 3G contract. The Type A (40 MHz) license went to Turkcell while Avea got the Type C (30 MHz) license. (more…)

Posted by meb at December 1st, 2008

In the first 20 days following the introduction of a number portability system, 230,000 cell phone subscribers switched to a new operator.

Turkcell, the leading GSM operator in Turkey, got the biggest piece of the pie, with 70 percent of those who chose to make the jump shifting to Turkcell. Unlike the general trend in the world, Turkish subscribers chose to switch to a dominant operator rather than to smaller GSM operators. Transportation Minister Binali Yıldırım called this interesting, saying that Turkcell’s service must be very attractive to subscribers. (more…)

Posted by meb at November 29th, 2008

A tender for the 3G mobile communication system ended yesterday with the participation of Turkey’s three GSM operators, bringing a total of 822 million euros into the Treasury with another 148 million euros going to the Finance Ministry as the value-added tax (KDV).

This extra revenue is expected to increase confidence in Turkish markets and improve the budget balance.

Despite some pessimism that the tender would not achieve the expected returns and the prospect that it might have been postponed again due to a lack of demand, the result was a success amid the global financial crisis which has rendered it difficult for companies to find credit to finance their bids. The mobile operators that shared the 3G licenses in yesterday’s standoff announced they would pay the amount as a lump sum.

The tender marked the dawn of a new era in mobile communication technology, as the introduction of 3G will bring a number of novelties such as visual communication, watching TV on phones and much faster Internet connections. (more…)

Posted by meb at November 11th, 2008

Nearly 50,000 Turkish mobile phone users applied to change their GSM operator on the first day the number portability regulation came into effect, Hurriyet daily reported on Tuesday.

One thousand applications were completed within the first minutes of the implementation of the gentleman’s agreement between operators. However, no information was given regarding the distribution of those first 1,000 subscribers among the operators.

The number portability practice, which allows customers to keep their existing mobile phone number when switching operators, started in Turkey on Sunday.

The practice has been widely discussed in the industry as Turkey’s three leading GSM operators; Turkcell, Avea, and Vodafone, eye new customers who might be unhappy with their present operator.

NEW OFFERS FROM OPERATORS (more…)

Posted by meb at November 7th, 2008

Turkcell, Turkey’s leading GSM operator, increased its net profits in the third quarter by 39.7 percent to YTL 728 million over same period last year.

Turkcell’s revenue grew by 10.2 percent in the third quarter, amounting to YTL 2.46 billion, the company announced yesterday at a news conference.

The company’s consolidated monthly revenue per customer was YTL 20.6, a 4 percent increase over last year’s third quarter.

Turkcell CEO Süreyya Ciliv said the company grew significantly despite ongoing financial turmoil in global markets and increasingly tougher competition. Ciliv noted that the company, which has 36.3 million customers in Turkey and a total of 60 million worldwide, will continue to seek both domestic and foreign investments despite the crisis. (more…)

Posted by meb at November 3rd, 2008

Turkey’s trade deficit shrank unexpectedly in September as a weaker Turkish lira, or YTL, helped boost exports to neighboring countries and reduce demand for imported goods.

The gap narrowed to $5 billion from $5.4 billion a year earlier, Turkish Statistical Institute, or TÜİK, in Ankara said on its Web site late Friday. The deficit, which narrowed for the first time since April 2007, was forecast at $5.8 billion, according to the median estimate of 12 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

“Our exports are growing and at the same time capital goods and consumption imports are losing momentum,” said Ozan Gazitürk, an economist at Şekerbank in Istanbul. “Turkish companies have less tendency to invest and buy imports.” (more…)

Posted by meb at September 23rd, 2008

Turkcell, the country’s largest mobile-phone operator, is preparing for the launch of a tender for third generation, or 3G, mobile phone licenses in Turkey, according to Koray Öztürkler, Turkcell’s chief corporate affairs officer in charge of corporate communications and investor relations.

“3G is an important development and we hope the tender will take place this year. We are preparing for this. We are thinking of launching 3G services after the tender period, within months,” he told reporters in Istanbul yesterday.

Turkey held a 3G tender last year, however, Turkcell was the only bidder and the tender offer was cancelled. The cabinet decision to again launch a tender for 3G mobile phone licenses was published in the Official Gazette on Thursday of last week. However, no definite date for the tender has yet been set. According to the announcement, the minimum value of the ‘A License’ is 285 million euros, while the ‘B License’ has been valued at 250 million euros, and the price for the ‘C License’ is 214 million euros, and 178 million euros for the ‘D License.’ (more…)

Posted by meb at September 12th, 2008

The Turkish prime minister met the head of a telecommunication provider Ericsson in Istanbul on Thursday, the company said on Friday.

Carl-Henric Svanberg, the president and CEO of Sweden based telecommunication provider Ericsson, paid a courtesy visit to Turkey’s Premier Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday, a company statement said.

Svanberg also met executives of Turkey’s telecom sector in Istanbul, and later paid a visit to Erdogan.

Ericsson has been operation for 118 years in Turkey, and made its first investment in the country by establishing a telephone line at the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul in 1890, which still works. (more…)