AZERCELL TELECOM JV LARGEST TELECOMMUNICATION COMPANY OF SOUTH CAUCASUS, REPRESENTED AZERBAIJAN AT CASPIAN TELECOMS

 

 Representing Azerbaijan at such events, the company, as a priority, informs its foreign counterparts of growing economic potential of Azerbaijan, creation of favorable conditions in the country for foreign investors, as well as of availability of professional and talented personnel. Partaking at the largest and most influential event across the region and advising its participants of the country's economic achievements, Azercell Telecom supports plans on turning Azerbaijan into a regional ICT center.

As it is well known, Azerbaijani government claimed information technologies one of priority fields of economy.  Within the "Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis deserve the best", Azercell Telecom, most trustworthy telecoms company in the region, is going to keep on introducing the state-of-the-art technologies in the country.

 

The Eurasian region is the first in the world by rates of economic growth. This information was provided in his speech at aforesaid conference & exhibition by Serkan Elden, Chief Executive Officer with Fintur Holdings B.V., primary shareholder in Azercell Telecom. He called telecommunication sector development in energy resource-rich Caspian region a ‘very important process'. The mobile communication market development in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan is necessary to diversify economies in these countries and reduce their reliance on oil&gas sector. Mr. Elden listed the primary objectives required for the further development of telecoms sector: further liberalization of telecommunication market, acceleration of privatization and encouragement of state-of-the-art technologies implementation, for example 3G. Turkcell, Azercell Telecom's founder and the largest service provider in Europe and Turkey, is planning to introduce this technology in Turkey. The company has already submitted the application for tender to be announced by Turkey's Government shortly. In the early 2006 Azercell was the first company in Azerbaijan to address the Ministry of Communication and IT to obtain a 3G-license, but still unsuccessfully.    

3G standard was devised by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and is called IMT-2000 (International Mobile Telecommunications 2000). According to IMT-2000 standard, the ‘third generation mobile communication' stands for an integrated network that provides the following data transfer rate: for subscribers with high mobility (up to 120 kph) - note less than 144 kbit/sec, for subscribers with low mobility (up to 3 kph) - 384 kbit/sec, and for motionless objects at short distances - 2.048 Мbit/sec.

 

In his speech Chief Executive Officer of Fintur Holdings BV called Azerbaijan's service providers to fair competition. He said the countries like Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Moldova (where this company is the largest shareholder in four service providers: Azercell, КCell, Geocell, Moldcell) display admirable economic growth, and as a result their markets become attractive to other service providers.

«Today neither in Azerbaijan nor in other countries we are working in conditions of single provider but competing with other providers. We advocate competition in the market and we like it. At present, regardless of our control over most part of  Azerbaijan's market (in person of   Azercell - 76%), Georgia (Geocell), Kazakhstan (КCell), Moldova (Moldcell), we like competition but at the same time we advocate and call upon the fair competition», Mr. Elden emphasized.

 

Today the company views its priorities in further extension of its presence in the Caspian and Black Sea regions. These plans are evidenced by the company's growing investments in these geographies.

Fintur Holdings' investments in the mobile market of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Moldova exceeded $1.5 billion. Of the total amount of investments $527 million was directed to Azerbaijan in person of Azercell Telecom, $196 million for Georgia (Geocell), $699 million for Kazakhstan (K'Cell) and $82 million for Moldova (Moldcell). By the end of 2006 subscribers with all four providers totaled 7.4 million people, of which 2.3 million with Azercell. Revenues of the largest service provider in Turkey and second best in Europe amounted $4.7 billion last year.

It is noteworthy that computer and IT-companies, GSM and satellite communication providers, GSM-technology producers, suppliers, financial associations, financial and investment banks, internet service providers, manufacturers of equipment and facilities for IT-industry were participating at the international conference and exhibition Caspian Telecoms. Through Caspian Telecoms exhibition the companies, alongside the demonstration of latest novelties, are establishing business contacts and setting up numerous contracts. 

Interest in the Caspian Telecoms international conference and exhibition is growing every year.