Turkey telco mulls Datacom buy

Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS, Turkey's biggest mobile-phone operator, is considering buying cellular company Datacom Solutions, Chief Executive Officer Sureyya Ciliv said.

Turkcell is in talks on a possible acquisition of Datacom, though no final decision has been made, Ciliv said in an interview today. Turkcell would want to acquire a majority stake if the transaction proceeds, he said.

This year, Istanbul-based Turkcell has bought a phone operator in Belarus for $500 million. Turkcell is examining other possible purchases, which may not be completed by the end of the year, Ciliv said.

In current financial conditions, "to have cash is very important, and therefore we will be more careful in acquisitions,'' he said.

Ciliv also said that Turkcell isn't concerned about a competition board inquiry into whether the company abused its market dominance.

The biggest fine the board has handed out in the past in similar cases is 22 million liras ($14 million), he said. Hurriyet newspaper today reported that Turkcell could be fined as much as 818 million liras, citing antitrust rules.