Global Insight Perspective | |
Significance | Both Avea and Vodafone have desperately been seeking this regulation to be implemented as it will help Turkcell customers change service providers more smoothly, and will especially assist premium customers, such as business users, to switch service providers. |
Implications | Turkey is the last country in Europe to announce plans to set a date for the launch of MNP. The service will allow the 3G licence process to be relaunched, further stimulating competition in the Turkish telecoms market. |
Outlook | Turkcell leads the market share stakes with 65%; the implementation should help Vodafone and Avea increase their market share significantly by mid-2009. |
Turkey's head of the telecommunications board, Tayfun Acarer, announced that the mobile number portability (MNP) services would commence in October this year, with infrastructure requirements completed for this by the end of April. The regulator would grant a six-month transition period to the mobile operators to prepare their networks for the change. The telecoms regulator also added that fixed-line operators would implement MNP in April 2009.
Mobile penetration in Turkey is currently at around 70%, with Turkcell taking the largest market share of 65%, leaving Vodafone and Avea with 21.5% and 13.5%, respectively. Towards the end of last year, both Vodafone and Avea boycotted the Turkish 3G licence award because the regulator had not yet announced plans to implement MNP; this resulted in the licence process being cancelled completely (see Turkey: 20 September 2007: Government Re-Launches 3G Licence in Turkey). In addition to this, Turkcell has been fighting to prevent MNP from being implemented in the country; however, in December 2007, the council of state rejected Turkcell’s injunction request (see Turkey: 11 April 2007: Turkcell Files Appeal To Block MNP).
In January 2000, the European Union (EU) mandated all fixed local access providers to offer fixed number portability. MNP has now been adopted in all EU countries, including Norway and Switzerland; Romania announced in February this year that MNP would be implemented by October 2008. Turkey is now the last country in Europe to set plans to implement MNP and fixed number portability.
Outlook and Implications
Fixed and mobile number portability services are essential in any competitive telecoms environment; it is of even more importance to the business user, who may want to switch service providers but needs to keep the same business number.
- Competition and 3G Progress: Once MNP is implemented and 3G licences are awarded, Turkcell will face greater competition from Vodafone and Avea. Vodafone has already deployed a range of value-added services in the other markets in which it operates and will provide excellent coverage in Turkey. Turkcell must provide a wider range of mobile services in order to keep its existing customers; it recently introduced a mobile banking signature service, although, due to the sensitive nature of the service, take-up may be slow in the initial phases (see Turkey: 20 February 2008: Turkcell Launches Banking Signature Service in Turkey).
- Following EU Telecoms Regulations: Currently, Turkey is following the procedures required to win EU membership through the Ankara Agreement: a three-step process toward starting a Customs Union that would help secure Turkey's full membership in the EU. While the country's accession talks have since been prevented by a number of domestic and external problems, Turkey still needs to follow the regulations laid down by the regional bloc to maintain its chances of its entry in the long term. All EU countries now have or will have, by October 2008, number portability services for customers of local operators. If Turkey can deliver this before the deadline, it will be a small but essential step to maintaining standards with the rest of the EU.