Turkey - Mobile number portability (MNP)

Vodafone: Turkcell blocking number portability

Vodafone Turkey CEO Attila Vitai has said that although his company has been requesting the implementation of number portability since it started doing business in Turkey, market leader Turkcell had curbed these efforts, leading to what he termed a waste of resources from consumers' use of multiple phones and SIM cards.

"We want to prevent this [waste]," Vitai said, adding that number portability was also important for competitiveness. Vitai emphasized that customers should be able to choose the best service provider without having to change their phone number, currently not a possibility in Turkey. Vitai asserted that Turkcell was doing everything within its power to slow and inhibit the implementation of number portability. "We completed our infrastructure [for number portability] and decided to purchase the necessary system for number portability with Avea and submit it to the Telecommunications Board," he said.

Vitai held a press conference to promote Vodafone's new headquarters in Maslak, İstanbul, and to announce the company's 2007 figures. Vitai said their annual turnover hit YTL 2.6 billion and that the performance of Vodafone Turkey had affected Vodafone's global results positively. He said they aimed to establish a better competition environment in Turkey, following their entrance to the country's market in 2005, when they took over Telsim. He cited as another Vodafone goal to bring the latest global communication technologies to Turkey, saying they had completed two-thirds of a company restructuring process to this end.

The CEO said 2007 was a great year for Vodafone Turkey, particularly in terms of improving their network and increasing revenue and subscribers.