Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 15 / Trend, H. Valiyev /
The growth rate of the Azerbaijani information and communication technologies (ICT) sector for 2012 was 18%, Azerbaijani Communications and IT Minister Ali Abbasov said at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers today chaired by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and dedicated to the results socio-economic development in 2012 and the upcoming challenges.
He said that the country experiences a twofold increase in its ICT sector every three years, a phenomenon that began in 2004, which is 2.5 times more than the world average indices.
All Azerbaijani settlements were fully provided with telephones in 2008, a first for any CIS member state. The public telephone network was fully transformed into electronic format in 2010. The numbering capacity of the network has been increased by 20,000 units. Operations were carried out towards the introduction of next-generation networks.
The volume of investments in the ICT sector exceeded $400 million during the reporting year.