Azercell’s mission is to connect customers with the world through a new generation of digital solutions
It was the summer of 2019 when Azercell made an official commitment to prepare Azerbaijan for a new era of connectivity and introduce technological innovation to the country. Revealing the endless opportunities of the digital world to its customers via a new brand identity of the company initiated simultaneously, Azercell promised to change people’s lives fundamentally with the help of modern technology.
In 2019, Azercell Telecom – as the leading choice of over 4.5 million subscribers – has managed to maintain its leading position in the mobile market of Azerbaijan with 49% of the market share.
Last year, more than 94 million USD and 1 billion 621 million USD in total was invested by the company in the development of the telecommunications sector of the country. Azercell, the largest taxpayer in the non-oil sector of the country for many years, paid 112 million azn in budget payments in 2019, and in 23 years overall have paid 1 billion 845 million azn, including taxes to the state budget of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
More accessible mobile internet in the regions
İn terms of making high speed mobile internet accessible both in the capital and in the regions, Azercell continues the deployment of 4G network in the regions. Azercell made a dramatic change in the 4G technology network across the regions of the country by late 2018 by increasing its geographic coverage by 366% and received 120% growth in the coverage of population. Overall, 1617 new base stations have been installed by the company, including 1217 of them working on 4G network. The expansion of communication quality has also attracted growth in consumption: the volume of Internet traffic transmitted through the Azercell network increased by 304%. European independent benchmarking tests conducted by “Systemics” in Azerbaijan, confirmed that Azercell is superior to all mobile operators in the country due to data transfer speed, information upload period and quality parameters of downloaded video materials within the framework of 4G technologies, provided by the company in all regions of the country.
At the moment, we continue to implement 4G network coverage of the capital’s underground system, for example, Elmlar Akademiyasi metro station already receives 4G and the number of stations is growing day by day. By the end of 2020, all Baku underground stations will be covered with 4G network.
Supported by attractive smartphone campaigns, multi-optional tariff packages and faster mobile data transmission speed, currently 58.6% of Azercell’s total subscriber base constitute smartphone users as the result.
Boosting new era of 5G
As one of the most important steps towards the digitalization of the society, Azercell has launched the first 5G pilot network in the country and the South Caucasian region a few months ago. Azercell was the first and fastest to test the 5G network, therefore is on on a par with the most advanced mobile operators in the world. With the ability of downloading and uploading data up to 1.1 Gbit per second, the 5G network is available to customers for free at Fountain Square and part of Nizami Street.
To accelerate the development of 5G, Azercell has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) as the beginning of a strategic partnership with Ericsson within this year’s Bakutel Telecommunications Exhibition.
5G is an innovation platform that will not only enhance mobile broadband services, but will also expand mobile networks to support a vast diversity of devices and services, as well as connect new industries with improved performance, efficiency, and cost. 5G will transform a broad range of industries with connected services from retail to education, transportation to entertainment, and everything in between.
The fifth generation of wireless technology, promises lightning-fast speed, incredibly low latency, and the capacity to carry massive numbers of connections simultaneously. Fast speed, lower latency, and greater capacity could enable on-the-go, ultra-high-definition video, virtual reality, and other advanced applications.
Starting from November 2019, Azercell provides 5G services free of charge and continues with comprehensive testing works linked with various innovative technological solutions until commercial launch of the service all over the country.
5G is the fifth generation of mobile internet connectivity promising much faster data download and upload speeds, wider coverage and more stable connections. As the communications standard of tomorrow, the much larger bandwidth of 5G will enable new applications and significantly improve the customer experience. The development of digitization indicates that billions of people already use mobile internet. They will be joined in the future by more than 100 billion connections that experts estimate will be online by 2020. The 5G network is the answer to the demands of digitalization.
Azercell will continue to research the local market for the question of readiness for complete commercial launch, including all involved parties.
Revolutionary Mobile Payment service
This January, Azercell, in partnership with PASHA Bank and Data Processing Center of Ministry of Transport, Communication and High Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan has presented “Mobile Payment” service for all pre-paid (SimSim) subscribers.
Developed in accordance with the decree of President of Azerbaijan Republic concerning the “State Program on expansion of Digital Payments in the country”, the new service will allow subscribers to use their mobile phones for performing monetary transactions, just like using cash. Any GSM smartphone can use “Mobile Payment” service, resulting in an easy and intuitive user experience.
As a first stage of the service, pre-paid subscribers of Azercell will be allowed to pay utility bills such as water, electricity and heating, as well as communication services of Azeronline, Catel, AzDataCom, Aztelekom, AzFiberNet, AzEuroTel, E-İmza and etc. We continuously observe the market and strive to increase the number of services in many different areas of business, including transportation bills. Additionally, the gradual expansion of service capabilities is of primary focus.
Pre-paid (SimSim) subscribers may benefit from this service by using Azercell’s “KABİNETİM” (My Cabinet) mobile application. In order to activate this service, subscribers should sign electronic agreements to accept related terms and conditions while registering in “KABİNETİM” app.
It should be noted that subscribers may use this service only if their balance constitutes more than 3 AZN. The maximum amount for one-time payment is being defined as 50 AZN. The minimum payment limit is determined by each provider’s service. At the same time, the overall amount of payments made during the month should not exceed 500 AZN.
“Mobile Payment” service is a digital approach that offers financial services using the combination of banking and mobile networks. It allows users to execute banking transactions more conveniently without going through traditional procedures.
By presenting the most progressive customer experience, Azercell is offering services beyond expectations, and will stay committed to its strategy to bring world technologies closer to each and every subscriber.
