Türk Telekom (mobile operator division)

  1. Home
  2. Wiki
Türk Telekom
IndustryMobile telecommunications
Predecessor
  • Aria (2000-2004)
  • Aycell (2001-2004)
  • Avea (2004-2016)
FoundedFebruary 4, 2004 (2004-02-04)
DefunctJanuary 26, 2016 (2016-01-26)
HeadquartersIstanbul, Turkey
ProductsMobile phone services, mobile phone related goods
ParentTürk Telekom (%100)
Websiteturktelekom.com.tr
Footnotes / references
Name: The name AVEA comes from "Aycell VE Aria" meaning "Aycell and Aria".

TT Mobil İletişim Hizmetleri A.Ş,[1] (previously Avea İletişim Hizmetleri A.Ş.), currently operating under the Türk Telekom brand, is the sole GSM 1800 mobile operator of Turkey, was founded in 2004, and has reached a nationwide customer base of 17 million as of September 30, 2015.[2]

TT&TİM İletişim Hizmetleri A.Ş. was officially established on February 19, 2004 as a consequence of the merger between Aycell, Türk Telekom's GSM Operator and İş-TİM which has been established through the partnership of İş Bankası Group with a share of 51% and Telecom Italia Mobile with a share of 49%. Following the merger, for a period Aria and Aycell brands existed under TT&TİM. A new brand "Avea" was introduced into the market on June 23, 2004. The business name "TT&TİM İletişim Hizmetleri A.Ş" was replaced with "Avea İletişim Hizmetleri A.Ş." as of October 15, 2004.

The privatization of 55% of Türk Telekom's shares was completed in November 2005, by Oger Telecom's.[3] In September 2006, Türk Telekom acquired Telecom Italia's shares of 40.6% in Avea. Turk Telekom's share is 81.37% in Avea. The remaining 18.63% of the shares belong to İş Bankası.

On 27 January 2016, Türk Telekom started to use single brand "Türk Telekom", for its mobile networking, landlines and internet service provider.[4]

In June 2017, Avea presented a $450 million joint bid with Vodafone Turkey to provide mobile communications infrastructure in areas where these infrastructures were still lacking.[5]

Naming

[edit]
Logo of Avea until 2016

"Avea" is a derived name from the names of merged two operators, which are "Aycell" and "Aria". That is "Avea" is a combination of the first letters of the names of two merged operators. "A" "ve" "A" in Turkish, which means "A" "and" "A".

Coverage area

[edit]

The merging of two GSM operators has resulted in the need of redesigning the network architecture to extend coverage and to solve the issues created by the network load. Avea had been able to complete most of that process about one year after its creation, and covered a vast majority of Turkey's land area with more than 7000 base stations. Offering services to 97.4% of Turkey's population through its next-generation network, the company was growing fast both in the corporate and individual services with the brand "Avea" and investing in technology and infrastructure, as well as in its management and more than 2,700 employees. Having roaming agreements with 656 operators in 201 countries, the company continued to expand its roaming partnerships.

Being a merger of two networks, Avea suffered from the heterogeneity of roaming partners and customers with numbers beginning with 50 and 55.[6][7]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "İlk Bakışta Türk Telekom". Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  2. ^ "Avea > Group Companies > Türk Telekom Group > Türk Telekom Investor Relations". www.ttinvestorrelations.com. Retrieved 2015-12-13.
  3. ^ eakin (2017-10-12). "Turkish telecom giant may end up in government hands again". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 2017-12-04.
  4. ^ "Duyuru" (in Turkish). Avea. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  5. ^ "Avea, Vodafone win Turkish infrastructure tender - Turk Telekom". Reuters. 2017. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  6. ^ "Avea". www.avea.com.tr. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  7. ^ "Avea". www.avea.com.tr. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
[edit]