While the leading Turkish mobile operator, Turkcell, reported a 54 per cent rise in full year profits to US$1.35 billion, its nearest rival, Vodafone Turkey, complained that Turkcell had failed to implement number portability.
Vodafone Turkey's CEO, Attila Vitai, claimed that Turkcell was doing everything within its power to slow and inhibit the implementation of number portability. "We completed our number portability infrastructure and have submitted our system to the Turkish Telecommunications Board."
Regardless of this issue, Turkcell reported impressive results with a subscriber base of over 47 million, an increase of nearly 20 per cent. However, the company has operations in the Ukraine and owns shareholding in four GSM operators in partnership with TeliaSonera via their shared joint venture Fintur International. Fintur majority-owns market leading cellcos in Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, plus the second largest operator in Moldova.
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