OREANDA-NEWS.  September 17, 2012. Representatives of the competition authorities of Turkey, Ukraine and Russia exchanged experience of control over telecommunications markets in their respective countries. It took place at a session of the Working Group on Competition Days in Kazan, which was focused on the measured for developing competition on international telecommunications market, reported the press-centre of FAS Russia.  

Sinan Corus, an expert of Turkey’s Competition Authority, stated that in Turkey two government agencies exercise control over this sphere: the competition authority and the communications agency. Often the sphere of control of the two agencies coincides. To avoid contradiction between the acts adopted by the agencies, they concluded an agreement for information exchange and assistance for considering consumer complaints.

Exercising control, Turkey’s Competition Authority monitors prices for communications services, follows up horizontal and vertical agreements, surveys unilateral conduct of operators on the telecommunications market. At the moment no determinations of law have been made, there are ongoing investigations, which all concern domestic Turkish market.

“Turkish consumers are talkers. We talk a lot, and GSM services are especially in demand”, Sinan Corus characterized the market of telecommunication services in Turkey. Only three companies - Turcell, Vodafone, Avea - are present on the Turkish GSM market. The market is low competitive; with Turcell having the dominant position. One of the three companies is international - Vodafone.

Sinan Corus suggested that analysis of the international traffic market structure could give a similar picture for Turkey’s Competition Authority. Until September 2011 there was no difference between the rates for incoming calls from Turkey or from abroad. Later the government stopped regulating incoming calls from outside Turkey, and operators began setting the rates independently. So far, Turkey’s Competition Authority has not received complaints from consumers about the high costs of such calls.

“In the past 18 months the volume of voice message services for Turkish citizens, arriving to Russia, increased by 2.5 times, GPRS services - by 2.8 times. Increased consumption of services is mainly not through Turcell, which supports high rates, but other operators”, Deputy Head of FAS Anatoly Golomolzin pointed out a specific common feature of Turkish and Russian telecommunications markets.