Turkcell Becomes the First Turkish Company to Win a Gartner CRM Excellence Award

ISTANBUL, Turkey, March 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- With its CRM program named "Journey to/with the Customer," Turkcell became the pride of Turkey in the finals of the Gartner EMEA CRM Excellence Awards competition where the prize is one of the world's most prestigious in the field of CRM

Turkcell ,Turkey's leading mobile communication provider announced that it has become the first Turkish company to win a Gartner CRM Excellence Award. Founded in 1979 and one of the most important research and consultancy firms in the world, Gartner holds the "EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) CRM Excellence Awards" every year in order to highlight CRM (Customer Relationship Management) applications that are up to world-class standards and to share the accomplishments with broader audiences. A first-time contender in the competition that's being held for the sixth time this year, Turkcell became one of the three finalist companies last month with its "Journey to/with the Customer" program. And on 7 March, Turkcell became the only Turkish company to be given this award.

Turkcell Market Forecasts and Reporting Division Head Meltem Ã??ahin, who is also reponsible for the CRM Programs, said, "We're delighted to win the Gartner CRM Excellence Award. Mobile communications is an intensely customer-driven business and creating consistently positive experiences for our customers is important to our success. Our CRM program 'Journey to/with the Customer' places customer centricity at the core of our corporate culture, strategy, organizational structure, and business practices. The program is designed to improve business results through customer focus by providing a single view of the customer across all departments. It's been a successful CRM program that has helped us better understand our customers and develop appropriate solutions to meet their needs, which has resulted in improved operational results."

The CRM projects conducted under the program "Journey to/with the Customer" Turkcell initiated in 2002 cover all of Turkcell's 31.8 million customers.

Full compliance with the eight basic CRM criteria

The finalists in the competition are picked by a committee of Gartner analysts according to their compliance with the eight basic criteria in Gartner's methodology of "The Eight Building Blocks of CRM." As per the methodology, companies are expected to build a customer-centered structure in all aspects from their visions to their strategies, from their organizational structure to their business processes and their technical infrastructure, and to reflect the outcome of their efforts to their operational results.

The three finalists made their presentations at the Gartner CRM Conference held in London on 7 March 2007. The winner was selected by means of an evaluation by the leading representatives of the world of international business was announced at a ceremony the evening of 7 March.

International research and consultancy firm Gartner serves more than 10,000 organizations with its 1,200 analysts and consultants throughout the world. Comprising the departments of Gartner Research, Gartner Executive Programs, Gartner Consulting, and Gartner Events, the company is based in the United States.

http://www.turkcell.com.tr/ About Turkcell

Turkcell is the leading GSM operator in Turkey with 31.8 million post-paid and pre-paid customers as of December 31, 2006 operating in a three player market with a market share of approximately 60% as of September 30, 2006 (Source: Telecommunication Authority). In addition to the highquality wireless telephone services, Turkcell currently offers General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) countrywide and Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) in dense areas, which provide for both improved data and voice services. Turkcell provides roaming with 541 operators in 193 countries as of February 26, 2007. Serving a large subscriber base in Turkey with its high-quality wireless telephone network, Turkcell reported US$4,700 million net revenues as of December 31,2006 as per IFRS financial statements. Turkcell has interests in international GSM operations in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Northern Cyprus and Ukraine. Turkcell has been listed on the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) and the ISE (Istanbul Stock Exchange) since July 2000 and is the only NYSE listed company in Turkey. 51.00% of Turkcell's share capital is held by Turkcell Holding, 7.46% by Cukurova Group, 13.07% by Sonera Holding, 5.07% by M.V. Group and 0.01% by others while the remaining 23.39% is free float.