With the largest market share and more than 4,5 million customers, Azercell is the leading mobile operator in Azerbaijan. The 100% shareholder of Azercell is the Turkish company " Azertel Telekomünikasyon ve Yatırım Dış Ticaret A.Ş," Azercell was founded in January 1996 and started its commercial activity as the first GSM operator in Azerbaijan on December 15 of the same year. In 1998, Azercell was among the first companies in the global telecommunications sector to offer a prepaid system (SimSim). Azercell has invested more than 1 billion USD in projects aimed at developing the telecommunications sector and improving the social welfare of the country. According to the Ministry of Taxes, Azercell is the largest contributor of taxes in the non-oil sector of the country.