Fitch: Downturn affects Turkcell

Fitch Ratings said the impact of the current economic downturn could stall Turkish consumer demand for new 3G telecommunication services despite industry expectations that it will significantly boost data revenues and result in overall increases in average revenue per user.

August's launch of 3G will see operators striving to increase mobile broadband usage and revenue in the long-run while building out their 3G coverage during the remainder of 2009 and 2010, the agency said. However, Fitch said it believes that the impact of the economic slowdown could mean that even a 15% handset penetration may only be reached by 2011 at best.

Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS' (rated BB with stable view) non-SMS data revenue is already at 7% with nearly 19 million Turkcell subscribers using the internet for content and data throughout 2008, Fitch said. While the switch to 3G technology will certainly boost internet connection speeds and provide greater choice to consumers, it remains to be seen whether it will significantly boost the number of users, the agency said.

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