Turkish watchdog urges end to roaming deadlock
ANKARA – Turkey’s telecommunications regulator said yesterday he aimed to push for a solution to a deadlock over roaming access to leading operator Turkcell’s network within one month. Turkcell has refused to agree to a deal with new rival Aria, jointly owned by Turkey’s Is Bankasi and Italy’s TIM, and has applied for international arbitration. Telecommunications Board chairman Mehmet Fatih Yurdal told Reuters his board held final authority in disputes and wanted to clear up the deadlock soon. «We will not wait for the result of the arbitration. We want to get somewhere within a month,» he said. Solving the impasse is the first major task for Yurdal’s autonomous board, set up last year as part of IMF-backed reforms designed to liberalize the telecoms sector. Yurdal referred to a recent official directive that makes his board the last resort in any roaming dispute. «The directive has been issued. Now we expect an agreement within the framework we have set up,» he said. Turkcell has consistently rejected roaming offers from Aria, a new entrant that has yet to rival Turkcell’s well-established coverage network. Turkcell also rejected a solution imposed by Yurdal’s regulatory authority. Aria says the government promised roaming access to Turkcell’s network when Aria bought its GSM license from the government for $2.525 billion in 2000. Turkcell says its infrastructure cost $3.5 billion and does not want rivals to use it without what it considers fair compensation. Turkcell CEO Muzaffer Akpinar told Reuters last week his company would be prepared to drop its international arbitration application if Aria and the regulator came back with an offer that Turkcell found «commercially viable.» Turkcell is the leading mobile provider in Turkey, followed by Telsim, Aria and Aycell, an operator owned by state landline monopoly Turk Telekom. Mirjana Kulas, spokeswoman for Rijeka police, said yesterday that Nodilo, 50, remained in detention while the investigation continued.
