Turkcell and VEON’s Jazz Announce Strategic Partnership for BiP

ISLAMABAD--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Türkiye and Pakistan's leading digital operators, Turkcell (NYSE: TKC, BIST: TCELL) and Jazz part of VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ and Euronext Amsterdam: VEON), collaborated to spread the latter’s instant free communication and life platform BiP in Pakistan. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed today by Aamer Ejaz, Chief Digital Officer, Jazz and Gökhan Yüksektepe, BiP CEO.

BiP is an easy-to-use instant communication app that offers fast and secure messaging, high quality voice and video calls, secret messages, and instant translation. Designed to be an all-in-one super app, BiP also allows users the ease of discovering channels like food, sports, entertainment, and fashion. It is actively used in 192 countries and has reached nearly 99 million downloads.

This collaboration between both these digital operators is an example of how tech diplomacy, can deepen, already close relations between both countries. By offering exclusive features like translation, BiP is a uniquely inclusive app that will aid communication and enable multilingual local masses to readily adopt its usage.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Murat Erkan, Turkcell CEO, said, “Expanding our digital services is a critical growth factor for Turkcell, as we try to deliver on the evolving needs of our customers. We strongly believe in the power of partnership and we look forward to collaborating with Jazz to expand BiP within the Pakistani market. This cooperation with Jazz is a milepost in achieving Turkey’s goal of boosting high-value-added technology transfer. Once BiP’s usage grows in Pakistan, we will look to extend this partnership model across other VEON countries as well. We are happy to contribute to the development of these countries’ digital economies.”

Gökhan Yüksektepe, BiP CEO, said, “We are proud to announce that our communication and life platform BiP is gaining ground with Pakistani users. We are dedicatedly working towards our goal of making BiP a global communication application, providing customized local experiences to its users. Regarding this strategy, it is important for us to collaborate with a partner in the region like Jazz. Today, BiP and Jazz are starting a strategic partnership with the aim of increasing the penetration of BiP in Pakistan.”

“Messaging is a strategic application and a key enabler of our digital operator strategy,” explains Kaan Terzioğlu, CEO of VEON Group. “We aim to provide messaging solutions with a wide range of services in the countries we operate, offering high levels of security and enhancing the local technology economy. BiP is an excellent service that is already proven in different parts of the world and its expansion in Pakistan by Jazz will benefit both users and digital ecosystem.”

Aamir Ibrahim, Jazz CEO, said, “Our digital operator strategy focuses on serving as a lifestyle partner for 120 million mobile broadband users in Pakistan whether they want to perform financial transactions or stream TV shows, listen to music or buy insurance. With the launch of BiP, we are further strengthening our digital services portfolio and providing subscribers with a multi-purpose communication app."

About Turkcell

Turkcell is a digital operator headquartered in Türkiye, serving its customers with its unique portfolio of digital services along with voice, messaging, data and IP services on its mobile and fixed networks. Turkcell Group companies operate in 4 countries: Türkiye, Ukraine, Belarus and Northern Cyprus. For more information visit: www.turkcell.com.tr

About BiP

BiP is a free communication and life platform with millions of users in 192 different countries of the world. It is possible to access BiP, which can be used on iOS, Android devices and the Web, via AppStore, GooglePlay and Huawei AppGallery. For more information visit: www.bip.com

About VEON

VEON is a global digital operator that currently provides converged connectivity and online services to over 200 million customers in seven dynamic markets. We are transforming people’s lives, empowering individuals, creating opportunities for greater digital inclusion and driving economic growth across countries that are home to more than 8% of the world’s population. Headquartered in Amsterdam, VEON is listed on NASDAQ and Euronext. For more information visit: https://www.veon.com

About Jazz

Jazz is Pakistan's number one 4G operator and a leading digital service provider with over 75 million subscribers, including 40 million 4G users. By providing the most extensive portfolio of digital value-added services, Jazz continues to be the country's undisputed telecom leader. For more information visit: www.jazz.com.pk