Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec.24
By Ilkin Izzet - Trend:
All workers of the sphere of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) will make every effort to fulfill the tasks set by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, the country's Minister of Communications and Information Technologies Ali Abbasov said on Dec.24.
He made the remarks during the conference entitled '10 years of development: 2004-2014'.
Abbasov said Azerbaijan's projects for the development of the information infrastructure throughout Eurasia were supported with three decisions of the UN General Assembly and the country was approved as the coordinator of Eurasian communications alliance.
Although Azerbaijan is a small country, it can render qualitative services in the ICT sphere not only within the country, but also in the region and increase the export potential, said the minister.
He said the World Economic Forum praised Azerbaijan's development model throughout the past 10 years, as well as its development models for the future.
The minister added that this development was achieved as a result of the efforts of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
If the development potential in the ICT sphere in Azerbaijan was 30-35 percent in 2004-2008, this figure increased to 60-65 percent after 2008, said the minister.
"This shows at least a threefold increase of potential in the ICT sphere every three years, which is 2-2.5 times more than the world average figure," Abbasov added.
Installation of telephones in all settlements of the country (for the first time among CIS countries), the expansion of the mobile communications infrastructure in recent years and etc. are the bright examples of this development, according to the minister.
"Azerbaijan became the ninth country in Europe and 37th in the world to use 4G technology," said the minister. "The country is among 20 countries in the world with 100-percent coverage of 3G technology."
"In terms of the internet penetration rate - 73 percent - Azerbaijan is a leader among the CIS countries and has been maintaining this position throughout several years," Abbasov added.