ISTANBUL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
BiP, the communication and experience platform of Turkcell (NYSE:TKC) (BIST:TCELL), has become the most downloaded local application of 2018 in Turkey. Designed proudly by Turkish engineers, BiP made its mark in the global market and total downloads increased by 87% in one year. Following the increase, total BiP downloads reached 34 million in 2018 from 18 million in 2017.
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BiP, the communication and experience platform of Turkcell, has become the most downloaded local application of 2018 in Turkey. (Credit: Turkcell)
The increase of the download numbers reflected in the communication traffic on the successful local app. Texting via BiP increased by 3.5 times and calls via BiP increased by 2.5 times. The texts sent through BiP were 9.7 billion in 2017 and increased to 34 billion in 2018. The digitized call experience of BiP users increased to 1 billion 61 million from just 427 million minutes within a year. A first in the world, video chatting with six people feature was used for 87 million minutes by BiP users.
Emphasizing BiP’s global success within a year, Turkcell CEO Kaan Terzioglu stated that: “When we launched BiP we faced countless criticisms yet we decided to build a global digital service in Turkey. Turkcell engineers followed this vision and designed features that were copied by the global competitors of BiP.”
“From Africa to Antarctica and from America to Australia, BiP is a communication and experience platform which has millions of users from 192 countries now," Terzioglu added. “We believe in the capabilities of Turkcell and Turkish engineers, BiP is the example of our confidence in creating digital services and solutions that draw global attention.”
Global interest in BiP
There were important developments about BiP’s global expansion in 2018. Last year, 5 million users all around the world from Iran to Saudi Arabia, Morocco to Ukraine and Belarus, Brazil to Antarctica chose BiP. The application’s first ads abroad were broadcast on digital screens in New York’s Times Square during the week of the UN General Assembly in September.
Steering into the Future of Communication
In 2018, BiP introduced many new features that its global competitors don’t have. “Multi Number at BiP” feature, which enables the use of two cell numbers through the app, carried the digital communication to a new level. Features such as video conference call, ability to use two cell lines from the same device, money transfer, calling all operators and landlines, allowing to use the application from web platforms led BiP to stand out amongst its competitors.
Hundreds of Public and Personal Services with ‘Discover’
Discover section of BiP offers more than 300 services and makes BiP an experience platform that meets various daily needs of users. In this section, a wide range of content is available to users from gaming to competitions and from sports to tabloids. Surprise Point, offered in Discover section of BiP, have been played 310 million times and 50 million gifts have been distributed to 7 million users. The section also offers digital services for public enterprises such as Ministry of Environment and Forestry, State Supply Office, E-Government Gateway, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Keçiören and Bodrum Municipalities.
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