Oger Telecom enjoys Turkish delight

Dubai-headquartered Oger Telecom's investment in Turk Telecom appears to be paying off as subscriber numbers nearly doubled last year.

The telecom service provider reported strong growth for the Turkish telco operator in which it acquired a 55% stake at the end of 2005 and which it now refers to as its key asset.

The growth was led by Turk Telecom's ADSL subscriber numbers, which leapt a huge 83% during the year to 2.82 million, Oger reported. Revenues for Turkey's largest telecoms operator suffered a slight drop however, slipping to US$5.05 billion from US$5.71 billion in 2005, which Oger attributed to lower public switched telephone network (PSTN) revenues.

The firm, part of the Saudi Oger conglomerate, recorded overall group revenues for the year of US$5.79 billion and net income of US$1.28 billion. The private company did not release comparative figures for the year 2005.

Dr Paul Doany, CEO of Oger Telecom, referred to 2006 as a "transitional year" for the firm, during which it had seen rapid change he said. "This year we are concentrating on improving operating efficiency and financial performance throughout the group," he added. As well as integrating Turk Telecom, Oger also acquired Avea, the third Turkish mobile operator, during the year, following Turk Telecom's acquisition of a 40.5% stake in Avea from Telecom Italia, as well as Internet service provider Cyberia, which it acquired in December 2006.

For its other operations, Oger recorded 23% growth in subscriber numbers to 7.5 million for Avea, and a 12% increase in subscriber numbers for Cell C, its South African mobile operator.

Oger Telecom hit the headlines at the end of last year when it abruptly withdrew plans to list its shares on the Dubai International Financial Exchange and London Stock Exchange citing volatile market conditions.