Turkcell, the innovative Turkish mobile operator, is making a move into Germany. It has formed a new subsidiary, Turkcell Europe, that will use Deutsche Telekom’s infrastructure to target the 3.5m Turks living in Germany, starting in Q1, 2011, before looking to deepen its market penetration. 75% of Germany’s Turkish population is under 45. Turkcell says it also plans to launch operations in other European markets through its Turkcell Europe subsidiary.
“We have become one of the leading communication and technology companies in our region and in the world,” says Turkcell CEO, Sureyya Ciliv. “We are happy that we can now meet (the) communications and technology needs of our citizens and people in Germany, who have close ties with Turkey, through our high quality products and services.”
Turkcell has targeted its own subscribers in Turkey with mobile messaging and advertising from third party brands for many years. It has around 10m subscribers opted in to receive advertising on their mobile phones.