The New Ceo’s “U-Turn” Plan

She is the first and only female CEO in the telecoms sector. She was appointed to head Vodafone Turkey, which had been without a CEO for eight months, during a crisis. “I accepted this post willingly but knowing that it was going to be difficult,” says Serpil Timuray and adds that she knows “what was handed over to her”. Because, in her words, Vodafone had virtually hit the bottom in Turkey. Timuray quickly implemented the “U turn program”, which had been drawn up by the group on her orders, and introduced changes in every field.

It is eight months since Serpil Timuray was appointed as CEO. In the first quarter of the 2009 financial year, Vodafone Turkey recorded double digit growth compared with the same period the previous year. Income per subscriber rose from TL 11.7 to TL 13.7. Timuray describes these figures as “satisfying signals” and adds: “Our turnover of TL 637 million in April-June makes us the second operator in terms of revenue. In any case, we are easily the second largest operator in terms of subscribers. In the medium term, we are targeting becoming an even stronger second operator.”

When she became CEO of Vodafone Turkey, Serpil Timuray became the first and only female CEO in the telecoms sector. She explained her first eight months to Capital. Timuray’s replies to our questions are as follows:

* What kind of changes have you introduced since you became CEO on 1 January?
2009 is a year in which Vodafone is reformulating its strategic plan in order to strengthen its position in Turkey. We have expanded our management team and redesigned our strategic plan.

* What have you done within the framework of this growth programme?
In particular, we have designated 2009 as a year in which we shall consolidate our market position. Our first and most important strategy is to promote our brand in Turkey. This means making it a brand which is highly regarded and adopted by the hearts and minds of Turkish consumers.

Our second strategic target is to focus on customer satisfaction. We want to be described as a customer-focused communications expert in Turkey. When we talk of customer satisfaction, we are talking about a comprehensive structure which includes infrastructure, the distribution network and the balance of values. In the last two years, Vodafone Turkey has doubled the number of its base stations to 11,000. In the last six months we have introduced another 400 base stations. At the moment we cover 98 percent of the population of Turkey’s 81 provinces. On the other hand, we have started investments in 3G, and, again in the six months to August, we have planned and brought on stream 2,000 base stations.

* What changes have there been in sales and distribution strategy?
We have shifted to a new distribution strategy and established 34 regional distributors. We reformulated the Vodafone Mobile Centers and increased their number to 827; and we shall raise it still further to 900 by the end of the year.  We held workshops with experts from around the world and both prepared a more competitive tariff and developed new packages. Our turnover of TL 637 million in April-June makes us the second operator in terms of revenue. In any case, we are easily the second largest operator in terms of subscribers.

* In terms of revenue you have a market share of 19 percent and are at the same level as Avea. What is your market share in terms of subscribers? What are you targets for the end of the year?
In terms of subscribers, our market share is 23.5 percent. In terms of revenue, it is 19 percent.  In the medium term, we are targeting becoming an even stronger second operator. We are second in subscribers by a very wide margin. But in terms of revenue the gap between ourselves and our rivals is narrower. We are very firmly established in second place in terms of our share of subscribers and we want to be in the same position in terms of our market share in revenue.

Elçin Cirik
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