BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 7
By Sadraddin Agjayev – Trend:
Head of Customer Department of Azerbaijan’s CONNECT LTD Amina Safikhanova spoke about the company's current activities and plans for 2020 in an interview to Trend.
- What services does CONNECT provide and what is the geography of coverage?
- CONNECT is one of the leading and developing companies operating in the field of information and communication technologies of Azerbaijan. We provide residents of various districts and cities with Internet and TV broadcasts in the new 4K format.
Our organization provides its services on the Absheron Peninsula, in Baku, Sumgayit, Khirdalan, Ganja and nearby settlements.
- Do you work with organizations and government agencies?
- Yes, indeed! At the moment, we are cooperating with government entities such as SOCAR, the National Gymnastics Arena, the Azerbaijan Volleyball Federation, Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery and other organizations. We do not stop here and try to expand the list of partners.
- Do you plan to connect new subscribers from other cities and districts?
- Of course, we are going to increase the coverage area among cities and districts of Azerbaijan so that the largest number of people have the opportunity to watch their favorite channels in the highest quality and use high-speed Internet. The main goal of our company has always been the expansion of the coverage area.
- What is the rating of your organization among other IT providers?
- Our company provides the largest number of HD channels, and is also the only company that provides its subscribers with broadcast in the updated Ultra HD-4K format. We can say that it is CONNECT that has the highest rating among providers in Azerbaijan.
- What kind of new technologies and products are introduced by your organization?
- Our company has been introducing new technologies in the field of internet services, as well as television broadcasts, since 2007. At the beginning of the same year, CONNECT LTD began providing ADSL-based internet connection service under the CONNECT ADSL brand.
Since 2008, the company began to operate in the field of cable television, and since then it has been offering subscribers the service of high-quality ether-cable telecasting under the CONNECT TV brand.
Starting from 2011, the company began to develop in the direction of providing high-speed internet services based on fiber-optic technology under the CONNECT FİBER brand.
Since 2017, the company began to provide NNTV - OTT (Over the Top) technology services, which is widely used in broadcasting TV channels via the internet and is part of IPTV technology. The term OTT means the delivery of a video signal to user’s set-top box (STB) such as computer, TV, TV-tuner, tablet, mobile phone etc, via the internet without direct contact with a telecom operator, unlike IPTV services.
In 2018, there were no changes in the scope of our company's activities. We were developing a new project in the field of broadcasting, which we implemented in 2019. In September 2019, CONNECT began to provide the public with Ultra HD-4K telecasting. This format allows the viewer to see the smallest details while watching TV, since the resolution of viewer’s TV is 3840x2160 pixels.
For the current 2020, changes were made to the frequency of payment for Internet services. If earlier a subscription fee for internet services was charged daily during the billing period, now the entire amount is charged at the beginning of the billing period. We do not stop here and will continue to improve the level of services provided to meet international standards.
- What do you think, which competitive position does your company have in the market of provider services?
- I think that competition takes place in any activity. For us, competition is an incentive. It gives impetus to the development of all market participants, to offer the best products for the population, in particular, high-speed internet and high-quality digital telecasting, and to introduce modern technologies. We are in favor of fair competition!
- How do you see CONNECT in the future?
- I am sure that our future will be very successful, and this is not only the success of the company, but of our users’, too. The activity of our company in the field of information technology does not give us a clear idea of specific goals, because this is an industry in which innovations are constantly being introduced, and new trends and technologies appear. But we are ready to unequivocally answer the question that our company is ready to comply with all modern technologies, introduce all kinds of new products to meet the needs of both the organization itself and our subscribers.