The leading mobile operator continues to introduce innovative products and solutions
With more than 5 million subscribers and a 48,2% market share, Azercell maintained its leading position in the telco sector in 2022, striving to empower the daily lives of its customers through innovative solutions.
As one of the largest taxpayers in Azerbaijan's non-oil sector, “Azercell Telecom” paid AZN 169,3 million in taxes in 2022, making a total contribution of AZN 2,2 billion to the government's tax revenues over its 26 years of operation. With USD 88,5 million invested in the development of telecommunications in 2022, the company's total investments for the period between 1996 and 2022 came to USD 1,9 billion.
In 2022 Azercell launched a large-scale project on the expansion and modernization of its network, bringing the total number of LTE base stations to 3124. The project resulted in a 40% growth in transmitted data volume. The population coverage of Azercell's 4G network has increased to 88,87%; the geographical coverage reached 80,20%, which is 6% more than similar indicators of 2021. As a result, the average data speed in Baku increased to 67 Mbit/s in 2022. Currently, the overall geographic coverage of the company network stands at 94,60%, while the population coverage across the country is 98,40%.
Azercell, the first telecom to build the mobile infrastructure in the liberated territories, continued its great return to Karabakh by launching about 100 radio base stations with 2G/3G/4G standards. The leading operator supplied a mobile network in the districts of Shusha, Agdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Zangilan, Gubadli, Kalbajar, Lachin, the settlements of Istisu, Hadrut, Sugovushan, as well as in numerous villages and surrounding areas of Khojavend region. Also, as part of this large-scale project, the leading mobile operator switched to "green energy", equipping the base stations in Gubadli and Jabrayil with solar panels. Contributing to the development of infrastructure in the lands freed from occupation Azercell opened its Exclusive office in Shusha and the first official sales and service point in the village of Agali in Zangilan in 2022.
Adhering to its strategic goal of "Easing connectivity, empowering lives!" the company has launched the 5G network in Baku in test mode. Azercell's 5G wireless network will continue to expand across the country to provide higher download speeds up to 1Gb/s, ultra-low latency, higher reliability, larger network capacity, and superior user experience.
The largest mobile operator introduced a variety of new products and services to its subscribers in 2022:
- The leading mobile operator has made the eSIM service available to its clients to digitalize its services further and create a more flexible customer experience.
- For the first time in Azerbaijan's telecoms sector, Azercell Fintech solutions, which combine banking operations with mobile communication capabilities, started delivering financial services to users. The Azercell Digital card, marketed under the “akart" brand name, enables consumers to make secure cashless settlements and conduct other payments and operations via the "Kabinetim" app.
- For the first time in the country, the company has introduced a new digital tariff plan called "IstəSən" that combines nationwide minutes, mobile data, and a number of popular social media add-ons that users can easily personalize.
"Azercell Telecom" LLC continued to serve its subscribers through various service channels to ensure a prompt and effective response and accessibility for its customers. In 2022, Azercell received over 3 million enquiries through its Call Center and more than 1 million via Online Customer Service. About 300 thousand queries have been addressed via Azercell's official Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn pages. Azercell also introduced the AI-powered Virtual Assistant service in 2022.
Over 800 thousand subscribers were served at the company's Front Desk, Azercell Express, Azercell Exclusive offices and by Mobile Customer Services (MCS). The MCS team of Azercell, the first telecom to provide services in the liberated territories, visited the cities of Shusha, Gubadli, Zangilan, and Jabrayil in the first half of 2022 offering free services to subscribers. In total, MCS representatives addressed more than 1000 inquiries in Baku and the regions.
The number of subscribers using the Kabinetim" mobile application surpassed 1 million in 2022. Azercell has improved the application's user experience while giving it a more cutting-edge design. New services like the "IstəSən" tariff and "akart" became available in "Kabinetim", giving subscribers better control over the operations they can conduct with their number.
The mobile operator continued to render services to its corporate subscribers, actively contributing to the development of the business ecosystem in the country. A preferred business partner of companies and institutions, Azercell served more than 20 thousand legal entities in 2022. As a result of the dedication of Azercell Business to provide its corporate subscribers with excellent customer service, the number of Internet users increased by more than 31%. Total Internet of Things (IoT) users grew by over 30%, and the number of active users exceeded 500 thousand.
As a responsible corporate citizen, Azercell spent nearly USD 0,2 million on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects in 2022 and USD 22,3 million between 1996 and 2022.
As a part of its commitment to promote Azerbaijan's national values and rich cultural heritage, “Azercell Telecom” has implemented the digital project "Listen to the Voice of Karabakh" dedicated to the declaration of 2022 as the "Year of Shusha" by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. To promote Karabakh's cultural heritage, dozens of masterpieces created by authors born in Shusha in different years have been transformed into audiobooks, audio plays, comics, animations, podcasts, and videos, translated into foreign languages and introduced to the international community.
In 2022 The "Azerbaijan Children's Hotline" service supported by Azercell since 2010 and "Women's Hotline” service established at the initiative and with the support of the company, have addressed over 7 thousand inquiries.
With the support of “Azercell Telecom” LLC, a proud partner of the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan, our schoolchildren preparing for the international Olympiads in Informatics have successfully represented our country in prestigious knowledge competitions many times over the past year, winning 1 gold, 6 silver, 8 bronze medals and 3 incentive awards. In 2022, with the support of “Azercell Telecom” LLC, Azerbaijani schoolgirls joined the "EGOI 2022" - European Girls' Informatics Olympiad for the first time and returned home with a victory. Azercell also supported vocational training courses organized for veterans of the Patriotic War and children of martyrs. Other social projects like "YouthCan" and "Her Improvement" continued their successful accomplishments thanks to the grants donated by Azercell.
As the general sponsor, in 2022, Azercell supported the events of national importance such as "Teknofest Azerbaijan" Aerospace and Technology festival, held in Azerbaijan for the first time and "Baku Marathon" - one of the key events in the country's sports calendar.
Attaching special importance to education, human capital, and the training of highly qualified personnel, Azercell spent USD 0,9 million on the development of human resources in 2022, with total investment in this area coming to USD 27,7 million in 26 years of its operation.
During 2022, 6 business schools and trainers of Azercell Academy conducted 281 external trainings and 60 internal trainings for 1686 participants from various institutions and companies of the country.
Azercell continued its long-standing Student Bursary and Student Internship programs in 2022, thus contributing to the development of future professionals. 25 young people studying in the country's higher education institutions were awarded with the company's Student Scholarship.
In 2022, at the initiative of the "Azercell Volunteers" group, consisting of employees of the company, the Mobile Сustomer Care of Azercell provided various services on the spot to the residents of a boarding house for War and Labor Veterans and a Prosthetic and Orthopedic Rehabilitation Centre. Besides, the mobile operator provided high-speed Internet access to the building of the Enterprise of Social Services for the elderly, located in Bilgah settlement, and equipped the enterprise with mobile devices. Adhering to their traditions, "Azercell Volunteers" visited the families of the martyrs of the Patriotic War, veterans, as well as vulnerable families and children in SOS villages, congratulating them on the Novruz holiday and the New Year.
In 2022, Azercell was once again awarded the ISO 37001:2016 Anti-corruption management system compliance and the ISO/IEC 27001 International Information Security Standard certificates. The company has received a "Star Partner" Award from the National Paralympic Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan for contributing to the development of Children’s Paralympic Movement. Azercell's marketing campaigns conducted in 2022 won 9 awards at the "Felis Azerbaijan" competition, in which Azerbaijan was among the competitors for the first time.
“Azercell Telecom”, which has been responsible for being the leading mobile operator of Azerbaijan and the choice of more than 5 million subscribers for more than 26 years, is working to make the wide possibilities of global integration more accessible to its customers, along with providing them with quality service and sustainable connection.