Tayfun Acarer: Number portability to be kicked off at year-end

Number portability to be kicked off at year-end

Telecommunications Board (TK) President Tayfun Acarer said to reporters at the SinerjiTürk conference in Antalya yesterday that number portability among mobile carriers will be implemented by the end of 2008.

He said the TK had completed the tender process for determining the firms to install necessary infrastructure and that the works will be completed in the last quarter. In response to a question on the appeal of Turkcell -- Turkey's largest mobile carrier, with over 30 million subscribers -- to number portability, Acarer said they had received positive reactions from Turkcell after negotiations on number portability. "I do not know whether Turkcell will withdraw from the appeal. But they will integrate into the system," he said. Regarding mobile carriers' coverage, the TK head said that there was a clause in license agreements to extend the service area to regions populated more than 10,000, causing problems in rural areas. However, Acarer noted, the operators had guaranteed an extension of coverage to regions with populations of more than 1,000.