In Turkey, mobile phone users are switching operators every year in search of cheaper plans. GSM operators, who often charge long-term customers twice as much as new ones for the same plans, have created a base of disloyal consumers. As a result, number portability in Turkey has reached four times the rate seen in Europe.
The gap between prices for existing and new customers continues to widen. While new customers are offered the same mobile plans at much lower prices, existing customers are paying significantly more. Once their contracts expire, many users are met with higher bills and quickly switch to more affordable operators offering deals for number porting. According to data from the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK), a total of 190 million number porting transactions have taken place in Turkey by the end of 2024.
The price gap is especially stark in low to mid-range packages, where it can reach up to 100%. While a new customer may pay as little as 200 TL per month, an existing customer could be billed around 400 TL for the same plan. In the last quarter of 2024 alone, mobile number porting increased by 26% compared to the previous quarter. Approximately 4.4 million people switched operators in that period, with over 12.6 million number porting cases recorded for the entire year.
Experts note that while this trend intensifies competition, it also signals that operators need to reassess their pricing strategies. If loyalty doesn’t generate revenue, price wars may become unsustainable. Although this may seem beneficial for consumers in the short term, it could negatively impact service quality and infrastructure investments in the long run.
Meltem Bakiler Şahin, Deputy CEO of Vodafone Turkey, acknowledged the intense competition among operators, especially when acquiring new customers. “We try to offer competitive plans to our existing customers based on their usage, but we also have to respond to aggressive campaigns targeting new customer acquisition,” she said.
Zeynep Özden, Deputy General Manager of Marketing and Customer Experience at Türk Telekom, stated that pricing differences between existing and new customers are part of a globally adopted model. “Operators often offer special deals for mobile number portability. This is a standard practice across all subscription-based markets,” she added.
