Turkish mobile operator Turkcell is launching an MVNO in Germany early next year, obviously targeting the country’s large Turkish community. The company has agreed a 5-year wholesale deal to use Deutsche Telekom’s 3G network with services due to start in Q1 2011.
In an interview with Turkish television, Turkcell’s CEO Sureyya Ciliv said the new unit was “targeting a close to 4 percent share of the German market,” starting from 3.5 million Turks living in the country. “We will lift the roaming system so that people in Germany and Turkey can speak to each other as relaxed as they would be at home,” he added.
Sounds like a good idea, but is it? At the moment, mobile penetration among the Turkish population in Germany is at 92%, leaving some space for growth. However, it’s also worth pointing out there are more than 100 MVNOs operating in the country, which account for about a third of the whole market. Several MVNOs are also focused on migrants, and then there’s Vodafone which just recently cut its prices for calls between Turkey and Germany. Sounds like a tough battle is ahead of Turkcell – We’ll see whether they can make it…
[Via: MobileBusinessBriefing]