|
|
Turkey Telecommunications Report Q1 2008Product Type: Market Research ReportPublished by: Business Monitor International Published: December 2007 Product Code: R302-1854 Description Little progress appears to have been made by Turkey’s telecoms regulator regarding the licensing of 3Gservices, following the annulment of the country’s original 3G tender in September 2007. Two of thecountry’s three mobile operators - Vodafone and Avea - boycotted the tender in protest at delays in theimplementation of mobile number portability in Turkey. That left mobile market leader Turkcell as theonly bidder and the regulator argued that the licences must be awarded in a competitive tender process.However, in doing so, the regulator has effectively handed Vodafone and Avea a veto over the 3Glicensing process, meaning that a new tender is unlikely to take place until the operators’ concerns overnumber portability have been addressed. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing; BMI has previouslybemoaned the slow progress of number portability, which we believe is inhibiting competition in themobile market and helping Turkcell to maintain its dominant position. With mobile penetration expectedto exceed 80% by the end of 2007, we believe that now is the time to liberalise the market further andallow operators to compete more effectively, not just for first-time mobile users, but also for existingcustomers from other networks. While the mobile market is maturing, Turkey’s broadband sector is still in its infancy but is growingrapidly. Incumbent operator Turk Telekom reported 3.4mn subscribers at the end of June 2007 and webelieve that the operator is likely to have hit its target of 5mn broadband customers by the end of 2007.Given the rapid rate of Turkey’s economic expansion and the lack of mobile broadband services due tothe absence of 3G, we anticipate strong ongoing demand for high-speed internet services. We forecastbroadband penetration to exceed 10% in 2008, hitting 20% in 2010. This quarter sees the inclusion of BMI’s new business environment rankings for the Middle East. Basedon a revised methodology, the rankings present a more refined analysis of the opportunities and risks ofinvesting in the region’s telecoms markets. As in our previous ranking system, Turkey scores near thebottom of our regional table, behind Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. However, we stillmaintain that Turkey’s demographic profile and strong economic growth present interesting opportunitiesfor telecoms investors, while as the mobile and broadband markets mature, customer spending levels arelikely to rise from their current low levels. The most immediate improvements in the businessenvironment could be made in the regulatory sphere; as outlined above, we have some concerns about theslow pace of liberalisation, particularly in the mobile market. Table of Contents
|
|
||||||||
MindBranch has been the leading provider of industry and investment research from more than 550 independent research firms since 1992. With over 90,000 market research reports, MindBranch is your trusted source of competitive business intelligence. |