TURKEY: Draft GSM licence agreements signed

03 October 1997
NEWS

State-owned Turk Telekom has signed draft agreements to sell full operating licences to private mobile phone companies Turkcell and Telsim. The two global standard for mobiles (GSM) providers now operate on the basis of revenue sharing agreements with Turk Telekom. The licences have been valued at $500 million each.

The arrangements still have to be approved by the country's supreme administrative court, the Council of State or Danistay.

The conversion process will permit each company to increase the number of their subscribers to around 1.8 million. At present, Turkcell is the larger of the two, servicing around 900,000 of the country's present 1.2 million GSM subscribers.

Turkcell recently awarded a mandate for a $575 million financing package for its ongoing expansion to Bankers Trust, Deutsche Morgan Grenfell and

JP Morgan (MEED 5:9:97; 15:8:97). However, the financing, apart from a $75 million bridging loan, depends on the successful conclusion of the conversion.

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