Republic of Türkiye

[TR] Privatisation of the Telecommunications Sector

IRIS 2005-9:1/37

Mine Gencel Bek

Faculty of Communication, Ankara University

In July 2005 the privatisation of the Turkish telecommunications operator Türk Telecom took place with the sale of a 55 percent share. Türk Telekom's privatisation has been an issue since the beginning of the 1990s. It is a very big telecom operator with 19 million subscribers. Four Turkish and non-Turkish consortiums had bid on the company.

The winner was Oger Telecom (that is part of Saudi Arabia´s Oger group), and Telecom Italia with a limited share.

The process of privatization was approved by the Competition Board and the Cabinet. The Turkish mainstream media celebrated this sale, stating that the telecommunications sector could have been privatised even before. According to them, it had been a late decision and the price would have been higher in the past. But the privatisation was also very much criticised. One of the points of concern of the critics had been the sale to a foreign company. In their view, the telecommunications sector has a strategic importance and should thus not be in the hands of a foreign investor. On top of that, the Federation of Consumer Associations (TÜDEF) considered the price had been below the real value and went to court to object to the sale.