Bakcell CEO speaks about start-ups and telco digitalization

Baku. 24 September. REPORT.AZ/ Bakcell, the First Mobile Operator and Leading Mobile Internet Provider of Azerbaijan, continues to take active part in the major global telco events, to contribute to the development of local and global telecommunications industry.

Chief Executive Officer of Bakcell Nikolai Beckers was invited to join the list of the star-studded lineup of speakers at the Telecoms World Middle East 2018 conference, along with other top-tier decision makers from IBM, Wipro, Ericsson, Verizon, Etisalat, Batelco Group, Turk Telecom and many more. Held in Dubai on 17-18 September 2018, the Telecoms World ME is the leading telecoms conference of the Middle East. This year, Nikolai Beckers and the other telecom titans have gathered together to discuss partnership, innovation and strategy of the whole telecoms ecosystem.

Speaking at the keynote panel dedicated to the start-up incubation and driving the digital telco, together with CEO of Turk Telekom Paul Doany, Mr. Beckers has talked about the current state of telecommunications industry and the role of digitalization and start-ups in ensuring the success of this industry in the future.

“There are many things to be done on the path to digitalization, and the industry leaders must focus on the core and fundamental issues. Before digitalization the operators need to implement consolidation, simplify the internal processes and the whole organization of business. Traditional telecom operators are usually bureaucratic and it is exceedingly difficult to apply innovations and digitalization within the existing organization. As a solution, it is much easier to create a separate entity outside the main organization so the people are free to experiment and come up with ideas. We are currently implementing this approachin Bakcell by means of our “AppLab” incubation program,” says Bakcell CEO Nikolai Beckers.

Note that since the year 2014 Bakcell implements the “AppLab” program, where local hardware and software developers are able to submit their ideas and get support from Bakcell. Teams participating in the “AppLab” program of Bakcell are provided with free internet access, desk and needed trainings, along with an opportunity to use the latest devices for implementing their ideas and developing their products. Many innovative projects developed by Azerbaijani developers with support of “AppLab” are already available for download to devices running on Android and iOS.

“Innovation needs freedom and responsibility! And only when these 2 things are together the digitalization can be possible. The normal telco is much more about command and control, and it is difficult to drive innovations. Another complexity the global telcos need to overcome is that whatever is developed via the startup has to be transferred somehow into the main organization,” added Mr. Beckers.

Nikolai Beckers was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Bakcell in 2016.Prior to that, he held key posts in leading telecommunications companies in countries of Western and Eastern Europe and Southeastern Asia. His extensive work experience and telecoms expertise covers implementation of activities and projects that played a strategic role in achieving substantial business success in the most competitive telecommunication markets across the world.