Turkcell Publishes Subscriber Update

Turkey's Turkcell says that it recorded a 19% increase in its overall customer base to 27.9 million as of December 31, 2005 from 23.4 million subscribers as of December 31, 2004. Turkcell added approximately 1,157,000 net new subscribers in the last quarter of 2005. Turkcell's subscriber base consists of 5.4 million postpaid and 22.5 million prepaid subscribers. New gross subscribers acquired in the last quarter of 2005 consisted of 90% prepaid and 10% postpaid subscribers.

In the last quarter of 2005, Turkcell's churn rate was 2.9% up from 2.5% in the third quarter of 2005. The annual total churn rate as of December 31, 2005 increased to 10.1% from 9.1% as of December 31, 2004, which was in line with our expectations and due to intensified competition in the Turkish market during the year.

Mr. Muzaffer Akpinar, Turkcell's CEO, commented "The growth in our subscriber base was in line with our expectations which was supported by the favorable macroeconomic developments in the market and our low churn levels. In 2006, we expect the growth in our subscriber base and in the market to continue at a slower pace compared to 2005. There were some major changes in the Turkish market which we believe will result in a change in our competitive landscape. In this changing competitive landscape, our intention is to maintain our leading position in the market with the aim of achieving double digit growth rate in our subscriber base while sustaining a balance with our bottom line objectives. In this respect, with our "Better Value for Money" approach, we will continue with our new service and product offerings as well as with our loyalty programs to better meet the needs and expectations of our subscribers.

The subscriber figure represents stand alone figures for Turkcell and does not include the subscriber numbers of its subsidiaries."

Posted to the site on 18th January 2006