Turkey is expected to announce a tender competition for the sale of Telsim - the country's second largest mobile phone operator after Turkcell, according to Italian press reports. The Turkish Saving Deposits Insurance Fund (SDIF), a state banking body, took over Telsim after its owner - the Uzan family - went insolvent and failed to pay its debts. Debts with telecom equipment suppliers Motorola and Nokia amount to USD 3.4 billion; while Telsim owes TMSF USD 6 billion. Telsim has an estimated value of USd 2.8 billion. The sale is expected to generate an inflow of US$ 4-5 billion - based on analysts’ assumption of a value per user of USD 500, considering that Telsim has 8.5 million subscribers. Companies willing to participate in the tender will apply to Telsim before September 19 for pre-qualification. After getting a pre-qualification certificate, companies will submit their final offer on December 5. The UK's Vodafone, Norway's Telenor, the United Emirates-based Etilsat and the Hong-Kong based Hutchison Whampoa have all expressed interest in buying Telsim.
