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Telecommunications (january-november 2009)

Analysis Materials 14 January 2010 12:40 (UTC +04:00)

E-government is being successfully introduced in Azerbaijan, and introduction of "single window" system in the customs system indicates the successful implementation of the system. At present, an automated system of border passage, as well as risk assessment and other processes have been introduced in the work of Azerbaijani customs authorities. Azerbaijan adopted the National Strategy of ICT development in 2003 and it is based on establishment of an information society and introduction of ICT in all fields, particularly in the customs sphere. The main work within "e-government" in the customs sphere is the application of a "single window", which is successfully implemented and appraised by both local and international organizations. Integrated operations are being held in Azerbaijan to introduce "e-government", particularly in state bodies.

According to the data provided by the State Statistics Committee of Azerbaijan, in January-November 2009, the communication enterprises provided population and businesses with services worth 896.9mln manat, or 12.8% more than the same period of 2008. Some 78.6% of all communications services accounted for population.

Index of services provided by telecommunication and post departments in 2009, %

Compared to previous month

Compared to previous year

January

62,4

107,9

February

102,5

102,3

March

126,6

106,2

April

122,2

111,7

May

91,5

116,9

June

101,6

114,0

July

107,0

114,9

August

91,9

114,0

September

104,5

113,3

October

106,5

113,7

November

86,0

112,8

As formerly, mobile communications make up the major part of communication incomes.

Some 71.4% of the profits fell on mobile communications, an increase of 7.1% compared to the same period of the last year. The number of mobile communication users in Azerbaijan since the beginning of the year increased by 1.3 million subscribers, according to data from the Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies. The number of mobile subscribers in Azerbaijan is 7.3 million. Today in the country 82 mobile subscribers is counted for every 100 people.

Currently three GSM operators function in Azerbaijan, including Azercell Telecom (3.7mln subscribers), Bakcell (1.5mln), Azerfon (1.5mln).  

IT products and services made up 943.8 million in January-November, or 11.9 percent up than the last year figure (data by the Azerbaijani State Statistical Committee).

The Baku Telephone Communications Production Association (BTC PA) will transfer its urban automatic telephone exchanges 470/474/475/476 to NGN technology. BTC PA has called NGN a priority that will allow the company to see segment growth in the long term. BTC PA is approaching full-scale NGN implementation where various networks are combined into a single unit and controlled by one device. As previously reported, automatic telephone exchanges using NGN account for 50 percent of the city network. A flexible switching system and a unified data transfer technology in new generation networks allow the provision of a wide range of services. This allows traditional communication services to be rendered alongside IP telephony, broadband Internet and IP-TV.

All automatic telephone exchanges will be electronic in Baku by late 2009. The exchanges will be transferred to 3G technology. The move will increase the number of broadband users in the country, as well as the distribution of modern services sich as TriplePlay. The service allows communications operators to render broadband services, vocal communications and television services to users.

A new wave of broadband market development takes place on the market of Internet services. Internet access service market in Azerbaijan has been demonstrating steady growth over recent years. The level of Internet penetration in Azerbaijan reached 37 percent. Over the past two years, the Internet tariffs have declined by nine times. Such a sharp decline in the cost of the connection is due to lower prices of foreign channels, cheaper equipment and increasing competition between providers. Competition can play an important role in further reducing the cost of access and increasing quality of service.

Along with the development of this market, there are also problems to solve which requires investment by providers. Further reduction in the cost of Internet access at this stage may cause material damage to Internet providers.

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