Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Fifty thousand Turkish GSM users switch operator on day one

Nearly 50,000 Turkish mobile phone users applied to change their GSM operator on the first day the number portability regulation came into effect, Hurriyet daily reported on Tuesday.

Fifty thousand Turkish GSM users switch operator on day one

One thousand applications were completed within the first minutes of the implementation of the gentleman's agreement between operators. However, no information was given regarding the distribution of those first 1,000 subscribers among the operators.

The number portability practice, which allows customers to keep their existing mobile phone number when switching operators, started in Turkey on Sunday.

The practice has been widely discussed in the industry as Turkey's three leading GSM operators; Turkcell, Avea, and Vodafone, eye new customers who might be unhappy with their present operator.

NEW OFFERS FROM OPERATORS
Competition between mobile service providers has already heated up. Although it is illegal in the midst of the changes, GSM operators launch campaigns and special offers to attract users in a race to grab subscribers from their rivals.

Turkcell, Turkey's biggest GSM operator with 36.3 million subscribers, launched a "free calls for two days" campaign, which will be available to the first million contract users who apply by SMS between Nov. 8 and Dec. 28.

Vodafone, Turkey's second largest operator with 17.5 million subscribers, said it would announce new campaigns and special offers in the coming days.

In addition to its existing tariffs, Avea, which has 11 million subscribers, has promised to give new subscribers a latest model free mobile phone.

Meanwhile, the GSM market is predicted to grow by 15 percent during the first year of the new system and the number of consumer campaigns to increase more rapidly.

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