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Bakcell to invest AZN 70 mln in technical development of network this year - INTERVIEW

Bakcell to invest AZN 70 mln in technical development of network this year - <font color=red>INTERVIEW</font>

23 May 2012 12:49 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Nijat Mustafayev - APA-Economics. Bakcellâ€™s Technical Director Yigit Berktash gave interview to APA-Economics on technological innovation and more development of network in the future.

- How much does Bakcell intend to invest in application of technological innovations, construction of new bas stations and such types of other works in 2012?

- Firstly, Iâ€™d like to note that, Bakcell has developed since 1994. It increased number of base stations, talking quality was improved. At the same time, we started to apply 3G service. This service is considered as the most qualitative in Azerbaijan. Weâ€™ll invest AZN 70 mln in technical development of network in 2012. This will allow users to use new services.

- How many stations has Bakcell in the country, at present?

- As you know, Bakcell covers 92% of Azerbaijan except the occupied territories, 99% of the entire country. Company has more than 2,300 2G base station across the country. Besides, we have 800 3G base stations. Generally, Bakcell prefers Green Energy, recently. So, more than 300 stations are planned to work via these technologies, solar and wind energy.

- What works were conducted by Bakcell within Eurovision-2012 SC?

- Iâ€™d lie to note again that, for improvement of quality of network in Crystal Hall, Flame Tower and other hotels and buildings of the capital, Bakcell has invested AZN 5 mln in construction of relevant equipments. We spent AZN 2 mln for instillation of equipments in Crystal Hall. 30,000 persons will be able to use Bakcellâ€™s services here, during the contest. Other two operators also will use Bakcellâ€™s equipments. Besides, relevant works are being conducted in Baku Metro and this will increase Bakcellâ€™s quality.

- What has Bakcell Company done within the framework of Mobile Number Portability project and what is the current state in this regard? Mobile communication operators in some countries expressed dissatisfaction for application of this service. What does Bakcell expect from this project?

- We are nearing the end the preparation works on the mentioned project. Fulfilment of Mobile Number Portability project will allow increase the number of subscribers for Bakcell. That is, we are sure of the quality of our network. Those mobile operators, which you reminded, have low-grade services and they may lose clients after the realization of this project. But in Azerbaijan both Bakcell and its subscribers will be able to benefit from this project. I believe that Mobile Number Portability project will be implemented in Azerbaijan successfully.

As you know, recently, Bakcell has switched to new mobile dial-up rule. According to new rule, Bakcell customers should dial the 055 prefix before the number to make on-net calls (for example, 055 XXX-XX-XX). Bakcell implemented this new 10 digits dialling in preparation of the introduction of Mobile Number Portability (MNP) into the network infrastructure.

- What did Bakcell Company gained from the introduction of 3G service in the country?

- As I said, at present time, Bakcell has 800 base stations in the territory of Azerbaijan. These stations serve to ensure that our subscribers can benefit from 3G. In general, we are sure that 3G-services of Bakcell - the fastest and qualitative among the countryâ€™s mobile operators. The number of subscribers exceeds 2.6 million people, more than half of them, that is, 1.7 million use 3G services. The qualitative introduction of this service has allowed us to increase the number of our subscribers. I would also like to note that the volume of traffic on 3G in the last three weeks has increased by 30%. This indicates that our subscribers use this service intensively.

- How Bakcell is ready to provide 4G (LTE) services in Azerbaijan?

- Bakcell is the only mobile operator in Azerbaijan, which has a frequency of 4G. We turned to the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in order to obtain a license to use this frequency. Bakcell demonstrated 4G service during the last yearâ€™s BakuTel exhibition. I can say that we are planning to provide this service in the country.

I want to mention one more thing - support for 4G phones subscribers. So, currently, phones of some of our subscribers do not support 3G. If they change their phones with those that support the service, be sure that the number of our subscribers who use this service can increase.