Azerbaijan, Baku, April 20 /Trend, H.Veliyev/
Azerbaijan's mobile communication operators Azercell and Bakcell must settle many issues when prepaid client billing systems switch manat tariffs, RCom Company Chief Seymur Mammadov reported on Tuesday.
Mammadov said both operators now face the so-called "price period" and should direct every effort to making the transition from contours to manat over the next two months.
"From the point of view of confidentiality, each operator currently waits for what its competitor is going to offer," he said. "That's why they are not in the mood to release information. The transition is a difficult, laborious process requiring the solution of technical and organizational issues. Once the transition is over, the operators will be stormed with questions from clients."
The expert said the transition is hard as contours are currently sold at prices that will be far cheaper than the price of talking in manat.
"For example, a client with a 20-manat card can speak longer than someone who loaded a one-manat card 20 times. All these matters must be settled, so operators will need to offer clients bonuses in the form of talk time," Mammadov said.
One contour's nominal value at Azercell will be 0.005 manat. Therefore, the cost of talking for one minute will increase to 0.3 manat.
Mamedov said the cellular link market has not adapted to such instruments, and it will take time for clients and market researchers to grasp this process. The success of the country's mobile operators will directly depend on this process, he said.
There are three GSM mobile communication operators in Azerbaijan -- Bakcell, Azercell and Azerfon. The latter is the only operator whose billing system is fully in manat.
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