Business consultancy project

Period	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
2006
Communication services	45	84	118	111	142	160	186	232	318	443	546
Mobile services	0.008	24	41	46	71	87	107	141	208	296	376
Share %	0%	28%	35%	41%	50%	54%	57%	61%	65%	67%	69%
Period	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Communication services	696	904	969	1,088	1,139	1,283	1,342	1,389	1,379	1,325	1,391
Mobile services	511	667	710	785	784	873	908	915	873	825	857
Share %	73%	74%	73%	72%	69%	68%	68%	66%	63%	62%	62%

Nevertheless, in comparison with other developing markets, the market penetration level in Azerbaijan is high, while all market members make efforts to earn a strategically crucial competitive advantage. (Mankiw & Taylor, 2014)
Meanwhile, the launch of Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in the Y2014 accelerated the rivalry among three players on the telecom market and provided increased simplicity for the consumers in switching from one mobile operator to the another. Subscribers were able to “port in” and “port-out” to various mobile operators without changing the phone number and avoiding the lengthy procedures. (Kaur & Sambyal,
2016). However, obstacles eliminated for consumers were transformed into difficulties for mobile operators resulted in deteriorated market competition for MNO. Moreover, based on MCHT requirements, all technical preparations and connected expenses had to be finalized by the telecom players beforehand.
The mobile operators faced with the hectic rivalry and were forced to search for updated value proposition for distinguishing from the competitors. (Telecoms, Media& Internet Law and Regulations, 2017)
Hectic rivalry forces operators to compete dynamically with each other to obtain a larger market share by offering diminished prices. However, the aggressive price-cutting strategy will lead to a reduced gross margin. So, the telecommunication market can be described as a “red ocean” for market participants. (Kim & Mauborgne, 2005)
Presently, mobile operators use all efforts to differentiate the product portfolio by launching different services and maintaining the high-speed internet to the market. The establishment of the 3G in Y 2009 and 4G in Y 2015 lead the provision of affordable services. (Asian Development Bank, 2019)
The emergence of the internet in the product ranges strongly supports mobile operators by creating an opportunity for the expansion of mobile broadband packages. The mobile broadband market position has proliferated over the past five years with the assistance of ascending of 4G infrastructure. Mobile operators extend their product ranges by applying the new data-centric products. Now all three operators are providing different lines of data packages. Besides, all three operators in addition to the traditional services arrange the bunch of different services as complementary to the primary services (BEREC, 2016).
Figure.6 OTT Communications

Mobile operators add Over the Top (OTT) communication and content services to their product portfolio. All three operators launched different packages by including limited or limitless communications through social communication application. Azercell and Bakcell LLC advanced their services by adding music and video streaming services. Additionally, all companies are trying to intensify their competitive advantages by offering new opportunities to their customers by adding mobile banking and online payment services. Azercell was a pioneer in the establishment of mobile payment systems via mobile devices and has launched Mobilbank service in Y 2009. (The Financial, 2009) However, now all three operators are actively

cooperating with online payment portals and subscribers can make online payments for bills and utility services through the website and mobile application of mobile operators. (AHK Azerbaijan, 2019)
Nevertheless, based on GSMA 2019 Data Azerbaijan mobile market industry penetration level has reached almost 111% in the year 2019 (GSMA Intelligence Data, 2019). It proves the mobile network market is becoming saturated, and some percent of subscribers are using sim cards from several mobile network operators at the same time. This assumption has been approved by Brand Equity Research as well. Some parts of respondents admitted being a subscriber of different mobile operators. The reason was explained as the coverage availability and price difference by operators. However, for the getting whole outlook, a brief overview of each mobile operator has been evaluated.

3.