The rating on leading Turkish mobile telecommunications group Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S. is underpinned by the company's strong performance in the dynamic but gradually maturing Turkish mobile telephony market, good cash flow generation, and low financial leverage. Rating constraints are the volatile Turkish macroeconomic environment, potential currency swings, international expansion in Ukraine and Belarus, and continuing legal disputes among the group's major shareholders. Competitors, including Vodafone Group PLC (A-/Stable/A-2), have only eroded Turkcell's market share to a limited extent (it was 56% at June 30, 2008, compared with 59% a year before). Sustained subscriber growth and rising usage on Turkcell's network and in post-paid subscriber numbers limited local currency average revenue per user (ARPU) erosion to 2%, year-on-year, in second-quarter
