Bakcell launches 3G services (Azerbaijan)
Azerbaijan’s second largest mobile operator in terms of subscribers, Bakcell, has reportedly launched its 3G services in 62 cities under the brand ‘sur@’. The operator which received the 3G licence from the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) earlier this month reportedly plans to extend its 3G services to the country’s rural areas during the next year.
As per sources, the mobile broadband service provides users access to a maximum download speed of up to 14.4 Mbps across all coverage cities, with the speed reaching up to 28 Mbps in the capital, Baku. Further, reports reveal that Bakcell plans to launch Dual Carrier HSPA+ services over the network, which would raise the download speeds to 42Mbps.
Bakcell is the third operator in the country to offer its users 3G services. Mobile network operator Azerfon was the first to launch 3G in December 2009, followed by Azercell, subsidiary of TeliaSonera, which launched its 3G services last week.
Azercell reduces prices for mobile internet services (Azerbaijan)
Azercell, Azerbaijan’s biggest mobile operator which launched 3G services earlier this month, has reportedly slashed its prices for its mobile internet services. According to reports, the company believes that the increasing demand for mobile data services will balance out the reduction in prices, thereby not impacting the company’s overall profit margins.
As per sources, Ali Agan, CEO, Azercell Telecom has said that the company is working to provide financial services using the RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology. Reports suggest that Agan has reportedly said that they’ll soon present their subscribers with services such as an electronic purse providing users the opportunity to use their mobile phone as a key from home or office.
Tele2 looks for acquisition opportunities in Central Asia to compete with TeliaSonera (Europe)
Sweden based telecom firm, Tele2 is reportedly looking for acquisition opportunities in Central Asia, in an attempt to better compete with rival operator TeliaSonera. According to reports, Tele2 had acquired a majority stake in Kazakhstan’s wireless operator NEO, in March 2010.
As per sources, Lars Nilsson, CFO, Tele2 has said that countries in the vicinity of Kazakhstan can always be of interest as long as the market is not too small. He added that the target markets need at least 1 million potential customers for Tele2 to make an investment worthwhile. Further, reports suggest that Tele2 has more than 1 million Kazakh customers and expects to reach as many as 2.5 million by the end of 2012.
TeliaSonera currently operates in the regions of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. As per reports, it is looking to increase its stake in partially owned companies and is currently investing more in Kcell.
Sources claim that Telenor has been focusing on India and regions in Southeast Asia for opportunities in the emerging markets. According to reports, Richard Olav Aa, CFO, Telenor said that he expects Indian authorities to create more transparent rules for mergers and acquisitions within the next three years, and the company would be able to engage in mergers if it meets its 2013 breakeven goal.
Azercell and Bakcell receive 3G licenses (Azerbaijan)
Azercell and Bakcell, the two largest mobile operators in terms of subscribers in Azerbaijan, have been awarded 3G licences by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT). As per reports, both the operators have rolled out the required infrastructure are may introduce the 3G services in the coming months. Prior to this, Azerfon was the only telecom operator in the country licensed to provide 3G services. The company received the license in December 2009 for $ 13,900 and launched its 3G network across Baku and other man cities in the same month. As per sources, the ministry has also asked all three mobile operators to submit proposals for providing Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile broadband services.
As per reports, communications and IT minister Ali Abbasov had said a couple of months back that the procedure for issuing licenses to these operators was in its last phase and only few minor technical issues were remaining for the operators to resolve to fulfill all the licensing requirements.
Azerbaijan all set to give out 3G licenses
Bakcell and Azercell are bracing up for receiving two 3G licenses respectively. It has been affirmed by Ali Abbasov, Azarbijan’s Communications and Information Technologies Ministry that in the coming couple of days, the aforementioned licenses will be awarded.
At the moment, Azerfon happens to be the only operator that boasts of a 3G license while the nation has been contending with regard to the failure to give out more licenses to other operators.
According to Abbasov, the mobile operators will be awarded corresponding license for providing 3G services in the coming days, weeks and months. On the other hand, a lot depends on the networks that face technical issues in rendering 3G services.
As per sources, there are three GSM networks in the country, in addition to one CDMA operator. There were more than 8.3 million subscribers in Azerbaijan as on March 2011, accounting for 99% penetration level in terms of population.
Elcell establishes service centre in Baku (Azerbaijan)
Elcell, iBurst services provider in Azerbaijan, has established a new customer service centre in Baku. The new centre will offer the full range of Elcell services.
Azercell looks to cut mobile roaming rates (Azerbaijan)
Azercell, which operates in Azerbaijan, is in discussions with operators in several countries to lower roaming tariffs.
According to Azercell PR department head Fakhri Abbasov, the company is focusing on Russia, Turkey, and several European countries.
Currently, discounts of 20 to 50 percent are applied for customers roaming on TeliaSonera’s network and certain operators in Russia and Turkey.
Bakcell further expands network (Azerbaijan)
Bakcell, which operates in Azerbaijan, is reportedly continuing the expansion, development and optimization of its network.
The company’s investments have led to a boost the network coverage and the ability to offer quality service to its customers.
With over 2400 sites and in excess 17,000 transceivers in operation, network coverage extends to over 90 percent of the country’s territory including remote regions.
Opera Mini browser surpasses 107.1 mn users mark in April
Opera Mini browser had over 107.1 million users in April an increase of 4.6% from March. With this percentage Opera Mini browser has grabbed the top position as the world’s most popular mobile browser.
Indonesia and the Philippines are on top of user participation on social networks. More than 77% of mobile web users in these countries visit Facebook.
Opera Software itself has more than 400,000 users on Facebook alone. The top ten countries using the Opera Mini browser in the region are Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Moldova, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan.
From April 2010 to April this year, page views in the top ten countries of the CIS increased by 198 percent, unique users increased by 65 percent and data transferred increased by 176 percent.
Azerfon-Vodafone starts charging for customer service calls (Azerbaijan)
Azerfon-Vodafone has announced that it will now be charging US$0.06 for calls to its customer care line.
The charge will apply to prepaid subscribers while postpaid users can call for free for the first five minutes and pay US$0.06 per minute afterwards.
The charge also applies to customers of its Nar Mobile branded service.
