Turk Telekom stock drops even as CEO stresses benefits of concession deal

Turk Telekomunikasyon

28/08/2025 12:03

ISTANBUL, Aug 28 (Reuters) -
Turk Telekom's TTKOM.IS shares dropped more than 5% on Wednesday after the company promised to spend billions of dollars upgrading Turkey's fixed-line telecoms in return for an extension of its license to operate the network until 2050.

CEO Umit Onal outlined what he called longer-term benefits of the
extended concession
, granted under a deal with the Turkish authorities announced late on Wednesday. The concession had been due to expire next year.

New investments would increase fiber access from around 34 million to 37 million homes, raise the number of subscribers to 17 million by 2030 and boost fiber speeds sevenfold, Onal said.

Under the deal, the company will pay $3 billion including tax over 10 years for the service rights. It also pledged to implement a $17 billion investment plan through 2050 to support long-term strategic objectives.

Turk Telekom's shares were down 5.6% at 57.25 lira. Earlier, trading was temporarily suspended in Istanbul when they plunged 6%.

One analyst, who requested anonymity, said the investment commitments made as part of the concession extension could initially raise capital expenditures, although that could benefit the company in the longer term.

The market is also waiting to see how much the company will pay for a
5G mobile license
 in a tender expected to be held in October.

Onal said investments under the agreement would include cyber security and artificial intelligence, adding that regulations could be forthcoming on infrastructure ownership.

 (Reporting by Ebru Tuncay and Can Sezer
Additional reporting by Mirac Dereli and Canan Sevgili
Writing by Jonathan Spicer
Editing by Peter Graff)

 ((jonathan.spicer@reuters.com))