Turkcell announces bullish three-year growth targets

Turkcell is expecting to rapidly increase its market share and grow by up to 14 percent over the next three years thanks to the introduction of 4.5G technology, the cell phone operator's CEO has said.

"Our target is to become the leader of the telecommunications industry in 2018," Kaan Terzio?lu told journalists in Istanbul on Nov. 17, noting that the company currently possessed a market share of 36 percent.

Speaking at a press conference, Terzio?lu said Turkcell would grow by 10-14 percent in the next three years while expectations for the EBITDA margin would be around 32-35 percent on average. 

He added that the rate of operational investments to income was expected to be around 16-17 percent by 2018. 

The head of the company said investments in 4.5G would start rapidly and finish in 2016. "The amount of investment in 4.5G will be more than 20 percent of annual income," Terzio?lu said.

"In terms of growth components, voice use has a 52 percent share, data use is 30 percent, and the rest consists of solutions and other elements," he told journalists. "In 2018, voice and data use will effectively trade places. The rate of voice use will decrease from 52 to 30 percent while data use will increase from 30 percent to 50. The share of SMS, wholesale, service and solutions will increase from 18 to 20 percent. Our income of 609 million Turkish Liras generated from services and solutions will increase by 30 percent yearly with accelerated growth," he said.

Commenting on 4.5G technology, Terzio?lu said the rate of devices supporting 4.5G would reach 55 percent by 2018. "For that reason, we expect Turkcell subscribers to consume six times more data. The rate of Turkcell subscribers that own a smartphone will also increase...