Curious about Eurasia? Here in this blog, you will find glimpses of Eurasia - what kind of region it is, our work here, and what it's like to be a mobile operator in this geography. You will also find highlights of the countries and the local cultures. I'll be sharing sketches from my daily job life, too. I don't expect you to understand and love Eurasia as much as I do after reading my blog but I'll be happy if my writing provokes the desire to learn more and get in touch with these wonderfu...e710e9a0-cae7-4f8d-9436-a50385ab9ee7http://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=174alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comMy parents-in-law are staying with us during the first exciting weeks of my baby’s life. They both are retired and live in another city in Turkey. They have come to us with one suitcase and one laptop each. While my mom-in-law is busy most of the day helping me out, my father-in-law has more time to himself. He starts his day with an early breakfast and opens his laptop. First goes Facebook, then newspaper portals. At a later hour he does a “follow up” of some of the developments he has learn...Mon, 04 Mar 2013 19:44:24 +01002013-03-04T19:44:24+01:008612813f-892d-4dcf-b1c7-0399e62ee2afhttp://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=148alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comWhat? Another year has come to an end? Unbelievable! Time flies, especially when one is at work. It’s time for another round of annual reporting, budget closing, performance evaluation…  If I look back at our most significant achievements in Eurasia in 2012, I would highlight these: -        Resolved shareholder dispute in our minority owned operation, Russian MegaFon, followed by MegaFon’s IPO -        Kcell IPO at London and Kazakhstan Stock Exchanges -        Commercial launch of 4G/LTE...Tue, 18 Dec 2012 22:27:38 +01002012-12-18T22:27:38+01:001df9e2af-4707-4f30-a257-55c68627eec3http://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=137alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comMany exciting things have happened in Eurasia at the beginning of this week, including the purchase of 4G license and setting up a live 4G test zone for its customers by Moldcell in Moldova; and the sharing of TeliaSonera's experience in the e-government applications area in Estonia, Azerbaijan and Moldova with Turkish media. But the most exciting news is no doubt the planned listing of Kcell on the London stock exchange, announced by Kcell on Tuesday, November 13. The background is that at t...Wed, 14 Nov 2012 14:32:16 +01002012-11-14T14:32:16+01:00de323be8-d50d-4564-ae8a-ecf18f204c45http://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=133alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comNo, this post is not about any “classic” examples of tagging cows and equipping shepherds with navigation devices :) I just want to share the funniest request I’ve so far received, being a public contact person for TeliaSonera Eurasia. It came from a firm in Middle East & Africa region. Although they were aware that my field is media and communication, they were also pretty certain that I could help them find a partner for importing livestock (in simpler words, cows) from one of our Eurasian...Wed, 31 Oct 2012 16:54:06 +01002012-10-31T16:54:06+01:003640b099-b79e-403c-908a-8d4674913866http://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=130alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comLast week I attended a TeliaSonera training program aimed at improving one’s leadership skills. Those were three days full of uncertainty, crisis situations, and tough deadlines, as well as lots of discussions, opportunities to take responsibility and take the lead, and have great fun! Cultural context was one of the focus areas, as there were participants from 10 countries. To see different people act and think differently in that training was as efficient as if I would have travelled to tho...Mon, 22 Oct 2012 22:22:41 +02002012-10-22T22:22:41+02:00e97f22ea-f483-4b39-a25f-78ad1e0f690ehttp://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=126alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comIn one of my previous posts , I argued if Moldova could be the “digital Estonia” of the Eurasia region. Following the announcement of several m-health services earlier this year, mobile identification has now been implemented in Moldova. It will enable citizens’ access to public services through mobile signature. Discussions on its implementation were initiated at governmental level by Moldcell , based on TeliaSonera’s successful experience with similar services in Finland, Estonia, Lithuania...Thu, 11 Oct 2012 18:10:01 +02002012-10-11T18:10:01+02:0061892c82-7b54-4b85-bd14-d8a79225f58ehttp://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=119alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comAs of September 24, Tero Kivisaari was appointed President of TeliaSonera business area Mobility Services , in addition to his duties as President of business area Eurasia. This means that he will be responsible for all mobile businesses of TeliaSonera in both Europe and Eurasia. I personally welcome this change, as I think it will help to further unite the business and bring the two areas closer together. It is yet another step in merging the cultures, even though a “physical” merge of the t...Mon, 24 Sep 2012 17:28:38 +02002012-09-24T17:28:38+02:0029299b48-31e1-49dc-a267-955d6a1c32c1http://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=115alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comTeliaSonera's new partnership in Nepal will provide "no frills" mobile communication services in rural areas, where people's main need is voice calls. Nepal is divided into 14 administrative zones, which in their turn are divided into 75 districts. In some of them, population density is very low, villages are located far away from each other and the villagers are only interested in voice calls. It is not commercially viable to expand the infrastructure of our mobile operator Ncell in these...Tue, 11 Sep 2012 10:18:38 +02002012-09-11T10:18:38+02:00d5b44628-0ff0-4948-ba91-c335f443866chttp://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=111alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comLast week, my colleague in Nepal, CEO of mobile operator Ncell Pasi Koistinen wrote in his blog about network preparedness for natural disasters. I feel like sharing his post, as I think it contains a lot of useful information worth knowing by everyone, regardless of where you live and what kind of natural disasters are characteristic of your area. We in Istanbul have a situation similar to that in Kathmandu, where a major earthquake is considered to be a matter of “when”, rather than “if”. I...Mon, 03 Sep 2012 17:21:31 +02002012-09-03T17:21:31+02:009bd4ab60-6362-40be-9968-eebe58ada4adhttp://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=109alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comYesterday, our President and CEO Lars Nyberg took part in the official opening of the new office building which will unite under its roof all Tcell employees who were previously based in four different office locations in the capital city of Dushanbe. The new 12-storey building, Tcell Plaza, has been constructed in a bit less than 2.5 years and is located in the heart of Dushanbe. It is one of the few really modern buildings which have recently started arising in the city, changing its look (...Wed, 29 Aug 2012 14:11:24 +02002012-08-29T14:11:24+02:00c3a360f1-8e1d-452e-8c95-5432c2277b84http://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=106alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comNobody in Georgia knew what a mobile phone was back in September 1996, when the first cellular communication company was registered under the name of Geocell. For Georgians, this word has been interpreted as “Your Own Network” almost from the very first days. Everything was imported in the newly established company, even office furniture. When the first shipments started arriving, custom officers asked the representatives of the unknown “mobile company” to clarify the description of the...Tue, 21 Aug 2012 10:19:18 +02002012-08-21T10:19:18+02:00a2485319-0031-4401-92ce-6eae43f8159bhttp://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=101alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comI’d like to have a look at the history of mobile communication in Georgia this time, especially as our company was a pioneer in this market back in 1996. It is both exciting and difficult to do something on a country level for the first time. It is even more difficult to sustain the initial success. Geocell has managed to do this for 15 years and I think aims at doing so for many more years to come. What is their secret? The history of telecommunication is linked to a country’s economic and...Tue, 14 Aug 2012 17:26:47 +02002012-08-14T17:26:47+02:004ed6ac98-3262-493e-bb75-9fbbe78c6f7dhttp://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=96alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comI’ve long been thinking about the reasons of Eurasia not particularly excelling in innovation lately. It almost feels like Eurasia’s global lead in innovation remained back in the ancient era - that of the schools of thought, philosophy, poetry, astronomy, etc. One of the reasons why the flagship role has moved over to Europe is, I think, industrialization which Eurasia has been late to adopt. (Note that we are talking nowadays mostly about industrial innovation.) The monadic way of living an...Tue, 07 Aug 2012 10:53:10 +02002012-08-07T10:53:10+02:007c0a0368-86f5-41c6-9f2a-4fc6aefd3134http://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=88alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comAnnouncing TeliaSonera Q2/2012 results , our President and CEO Lars Nyberg mentioned that people come to our shops to buy a phone, not a subscription in the first place. I want to share my personal experience related to this. Autumn 2001 was when I became a mobile subscriber. I was working in Moscow at that time and MegaFon (or then Sonic Duo, which is one of the two companies that merged to create pan-Russian MegaFon, now the second largest mobile operator in the country) was our client. I w...Tue, 31 Jul 2012 09:01:40 +02002012-07-31T09:01:40+02:00d421067d-4c5b-498b-b605-1b02e5706845http://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=84alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comLater this year, CEOs in five of our seven majority owned companies in Eurasia, will change places. The aim is to inject fresh outlook and ideas to further develop the business, maintain good corporate governance and take advantage of the diverse experience within the region. We are talking about management rotation which is a widely applied practice in large international companies. The changes are scheduled to happen starting in mid-September. The five companies are Azercell , Geocell , Nce...Mon, 23 Jul 2012 08:52:15 +02002012-07-23T08:52:15+02:0086f88c4d-0d14-4b75-82cf-1d79cd40b070http://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=77alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comThe most obvious answers coming to mind are fixed telephony, broadband, satellite, etc. We do evaluate these kinds of opportunities in Eurasia, but the experiment I want to tell about today comes from the hospitality industry, more specifically, catering. About two years ago, when reconstructing one of its shops in Chisinau according to the new brand identity, Moldcell decided to use the adjacent space for a small café. I think it was a good way of creating difference and personal touch for t...Mon, 09 Jul 2012 18:38:07 +02002012-07-09T18:38:07+02:00f00ea52b-feeb-419c-b0a0-6c2600d55acfhttp://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=75alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comI touched upon the history of mobile communication in Tajikistan in my last post. Why don’t I tell how it all started in other Eurasian countries as well? I haven’t written anything about Nepal for a long time, so here it goes. 1913 is reported as the “birth date” of telecommunication in Nepal, when the first (fixed) telephone line was introduced in the capital city of Kathmandu. In 1914, a line between Kathmandu and an Indian border town was opened. Some 20 years later, the first automatic...Tue, 03 Jul 2012 16:29:00 +02002012-07-03T16:29:00+02:003f3740c6-e446-4ffa-a669-6ac9da40aad4http://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=71alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comI keep discovering the beauty of the countries in our region and want to share some photos from my recent trip to Tajikistan. It was interesting for me to learn that this was, to a big extent, a man-made beauty. All the human efforts and sacrifices made in this land several decades ago are awe-inspiring. Mountain waters were redirected down to valleys, to turn deserts into oases: Thousands and thousands of trees (many of them - pistachios) were planted on bare hills, to create attractive view...Mon, 25 Jun 2012 09:30:31 +02002012-06-25T09:30:31+02:009b1217d8-aa12-4276-8797-120bb0149256http://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=68alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.com  Last weekend, I had a chance of attending the wedding of my colleague from  Ucell , Uzbekistan. It was my first “wedding experience” in Eurasia outside Russia and Turkey. From what I have generally heard and observed, the difference is quite big, depending on the prevailing religion. Wedding celebrations in Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia are more modest in scale and more “entertainment-oriented”, so to say, where only the closest friends and relatives of the newlywed are invited – on...Mon, 18 Jun 2012 15:29:50 +02002012-06-18T15:29:50+02:009c230832-53db-453a-bb8b-e59530afb93chttp://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=65alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.com“Barama” , meaning “Cocoon” is a business incubator or an innovation centre for young minds in Azerbaijan. Established and maintained by Azercell , it provides business and industry training, the necessary equipment and workspace to those who have a useful idea in the ICT sector, but no means to implement it on their own. One example of such an idea is a system that allows subscribers who want to buy a particular mobile number (for example, equal with the birth date of one’s wife :) to find o...Fri, 08 Jun 2012 16:45:20 +02002012-06-08T16:45:20+02:00d9eaa192-4790-4c1b-a227-4616054a0f2ehttp://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=62alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comLast week I had a business trip to Stockholm. I’ve got so used to the overall atmosphere of order and comfort in this country, to credit cards being usable everywhere, even in taxis, that I’m probably getting too relaxed when travelling there. Which cost me 3.5 times the normal price of a taxi to the airport last Thursday! If you are a first time traveler to Istanbul, you might get cheated by an experienced taxi driver, who, recognizing an unaware soul, might take the longest possible route t...Mon, 04 Jun 2012 11:24:28 +02002012-06-04T11:24:28+02:00c4708ad3-0a0b-444a-a991-b32700391918http://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=59alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comI had earlier failed to draw a clear picture about Azerbaijan and its people for myself. It was a “working file” with bits and pieces of my impressions from several business trips to the capital city of Baku and its suburbs. It was probably the result of what an Azeri colleague of mine has summarized in one short sentence: “Information sharing is not our biggest virtue”. One thing I however knew for sure was the feeling of peace and relaxation every time I came to this hospitable country. And...Mon, 28 May 2012 15:02:39 +02002012-05-28T15:02:39+02:003135435a-588f-4274-8446-803c283661d4http://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=55alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comIn my previous post , I mentioned that Moldcell, our mobile operator in Moldova, has been the author of quite a number of “firsts” in the market. Pioneering of the Moldovan market continues as I write. Last week, Moldcell presented SMS-based mobile health solutions that will be launched in Moldova approximately by end of summer, subject to completion of the content part by the parties responsible for this project from the government side. This is a social project, meaning that the solution is...Mon, 21 May 2012 15:22:30 +02002012-05-21T15:22:30+02:0055c32cb6-b4a9-4990-b8b4-4a8538c93ef2http://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=53alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comIt took me some time to realize that there is no such thing as “Moldovan language”. I think everyone who is getting acquainted with this hospitable, fruitful and hardworking country for the first time, experiences the same temporary stupor until they figure out that Moldovans actually speak Romanian. Russian is widely spoken, too, because of historical reasons. Moldova officially counts some 4 million citizens, but as many as 1 million live and work in immigration, in search of better economi...Mon, 14 May 2012 15:38:26 +02002012-05-14T15:38:26+02:009930b051-d277-4f78-889d-0d63fe75aafahttp://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=49alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comWhat would not have been possible in the era of the mobile phone? For example, the events in “Museum of innocence”, the latest novel of the Nobel prize winning Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk. A significant part of the book describes desperate feelings of the main character whose lover is suddenly gone, taken away from Istanbul by her parents, and the young man doesn’t know where to look for her. The novel is taking place in the 70’s. This situation would not have been possible in today’s Turkey,...Mon, 07 May 2012 08:51:57 +02002012-05-07T08:51:57+02:003f6784d1-af3d-4632-9914-fee464ab52a7http://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=44alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comI would like to continue the topic of Priya Sawhney’s blog post on education and tell about the “schools of the future” which Geocell in Georgia is equipping together with the Ministry of Education. About a year ago, Geocell launched a futuristic TV commercial: children in an imaginative modern classroom of 2021 are answering the teacher’s questions about Geocell’s success in attracting new subscribers after the start of mobile number portability “back” in 2011. A few months after the...Tue, 24 Apr 2012 18:17:57 +02002012-04-24T18:17:57+02:00d625affc-bf4e-4b45-baab-4000492d90b8http://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=40alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comA couple of weeks ago I had a meeting with a third party in Stockholm. Had I earlier not come across this highly useful note about how Swedes hold their meetings , I would have thought ours a bit too long and going back repeatedly to the same points and subjects. The “ritual” of a Swedish meeting dictates that it can finish only when everyone has had a say and everyone is in agreement. So I thought why don’t I share a couple of tips to a business meeting in Eurasia? Here are my observations: ...Sun, 15 Apr 2012 19:07:00 +02002012-04-15T19:07:00+02:00ec0270b9-87de-4437-b34d-0fd85c6765dehttp://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=38alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comIt snowed in Istanbul for two months. The coldest winter in the last 30 years, they say. Indeed, I don’t remember one week of continuous snow in all the six years I’ve been living in this city. And now, in January and February, Istanbul suddenly felt like St. Petersburg to me. A very unusual situation and a one difficult to cope with for the unprepared. During the first days of snow, life froze together with the roads. People were leaving their cars on summer tires in the middle of the street...Tue, 10 Apr 2012 09:03:11 +02002012-04-10T09:03:11+02:0051ef3bdd-1a2c-4a2a-ba4e-174555fc7d37http://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=35alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comIn my previous post , I mentioned that Geocell got the “purple” brand identity in 2009, two years earlier than TeliaSonera did. It’s a unique case in the world practice, when the “parent” brand adopts a “daughter”s identity. I want to tell this story. I’ve heard it so many times from our Eurasia Marketing Vice President that I can tell it like my own one :) Once upon a time there were seven mobile operators: in Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Nepal. They...Mon, 02 Apr 2012 13:44:38 +02002012-04-02T13:44:38+02:00c32950be-3a00-4075-8b6a-a05300aa21e6http://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=32alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comThere is a lot of love in Georgia and still not too many brands. People are very emotional. Communication happens 24/7. We are a communication brand in this country, and people perceive us not just as a company, but as a companion. That’s why, when Geocell was celebrating its 15 th anniversary on March 15, it was impossible to get away with just a press conference and a couple of ads on the occasion. It had to be a party , and a party it was! I witnessed, in awe and surprise, people calling a...Mon, 26 Mar 2012 16:09:29 +02002012-03-26T16:09:29+02:00a998db27-b8d5-44a5-87e9-c7838a17f7cbhttp://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=28alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comTajikistan has changed during the 1.5 years which have passed since my last visit. New buildings, new roads, new gadgets... In the car from the airport, I hear the characteristic ringtone and dig into my handbag to get the company iPhone. Before I can even find the phone, it stops ringing – the driver has answered his! And I see many more iPhones in my colleagues’ hands and in the city afterwards. They weren’t there back in September 2010. (To explain my state of surprise I should probably ad...Mon, 19 Mar 2012 14:46:28 +01002012-03-19T14:46:28+01:0025770aad-4620-4fd2-90ad-1a9dff31db78http://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=23alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comKcell is TeliaSonera’s biggest operation in the Eurasia region, with ca 1,500 employees and offices all around Kazakhstan (which has a territory the size of Western Europe). Kcell delivers about a half of our revenues in Eurasia, and that says it all. Successful operations in successful countries are boring :) But it’s not only financial and operational success that makes Kcell a very special mobile services provider. Consider this: Three mobile operators in Kazakhstan receive 3G licenses...Mon, 12 Mar 2012 15:18:09 +01002012-03-12T15:18:09+01:00fc6d002d-2861-44cf-bc13-aee5dfe07bc0http://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=19alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comA week ago, I travelled half the Silk Road! We had a regional meeting of corporate communications, scheduled in Almaty, Kazakhstan. And I had earlier had plans to visit our operator Tcell in Tajikistan to follow up on some projects and relations. Since Dushanbe is only 1.5 hour-flight away from Almaty, I decided to combine the two trips. There are situations when email or teleconferencing just doesn’t work. Face to face communication is extremely important in Eurasia. Things, which could not ...Tue, 06 Mar 2012 08:43:10 +01002012-03-06T08:43:10+01:00117c94b2-7d72-4832-a4a1-e619c193d082http://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=12alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comMy colleagues in other Eurasian operations, which have been in TeliaSonera’s portfolio for a much longer period of time, might get cross with me. I beg their forgiveness! But I found it difficult to start with any other country than Nepal. A closed kingdom for foreigners until 1950’s, this state with 8 out of the world’s 10 highest mountain peaks is a sure eye-catcher on the investment map of TeliaSonera. TeliaSonera acquired Ncell (then called Spice Nepal, brand Mero Mobile) in October 2008....Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:31:05 +01002012-02-22T20:31:05+01:00310e3566-cf32-40d1-a3fc-bbe6b542e381http://www.teliasonera.com/en/newsroom/blogs/my-blog/?blogId=9&entryId=2alexandra.akkirman@finturholdings.comHello and let me introduce myself. I work in Corporate Communications at TeliaSonera business area Eurasia. It comprises leading mobile operator brands in the developing markets of the Eurasian continent. There are seven mobile operators, in which the majority stakes and operational control belong to TeliaSonera. These are (going from West to East on the map): Moldcell in Moldova, Geocell in Georgia, Azercell in Azerbaijan, Kcell in Kazakhstan, Ucell in Uzbekistan, Tcell in Tajikistan, and...Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:07:13 +01002012-02-13T15:07:13+01:00