Baku, Finance Time.  Bakcell, The First Mobile Operator and The Leading Mobile Internet Provider of Azerbaijan, has been awarded by the famous international The Business Year (TBY) publication.

Bakcell was announced “The Mobile Internet Provider of the Year” at the presentation ceremony of the “The Business Year: Azerbaijan-2014” edition organized by theAzerbaijani Presidential Administration and TBY magazine.

“We are pleased to be awarded The Mobile Internet Provider of the Year. Our research indicates that we are still the market leaders in dongles and in small screen data but, for us, the focus was on moving people onto using the internet on their handsets, rather than laptops. The Sür@ (Bakcell 3G service) brand and the Bakcell brand are well known for providing the best mobile data and mobile internet services. Therefore, combining these with a Bakcell branded handset of good quality and high functionality was an obvious step for us. Approximately 45% of the market uses Sür@”, says Richard Shearer, CEO of Bakcell.

"We are pleased to award Mobile Internet Provider of the Year to Richard Shearer, CEO of Bakcell. The development of Internet applications for mobile phones has revolutionized not just the ICT sector but has changed the way we live and do business forever. This year’s Mobile Internet Provider of the Year has pioneered this space in Azerbaijan. By developing their own branded smartphone, they are moving the Internet more and more to handsets, and by extension they have increased their data traffic by 100%", said Leland Rice, Managing Editor of TBY.

The Business Year publication of the United Kingdom awards the bests of the year in several countries each year. The first edition of the magazine devoted to Azerbaijan has been published in 2011.