Today the ICT sector in Azerbaijan is the fastest growing sector of the national economy. This is testified by the data provided by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies which indicate that the ICT has increased by five times over the recent period and the average annual growth rate made up 30-35 percent. Despite the global financial-economic crisis, in 2009 the development dynamics were preserved and made up 13.7 percent. The growth totaled 32.1 percent in 2010. The share of the private sector increased from 70.7 percent to 80.3 percent due to the creation of the favorable competition environment.
In January-March 2011, significant growth was also recorded. In the first quarter of this year, the growth in ICT accounted for 24.7 percent, particularly the growth of telecommunications amounted to 19.2 percent. Growth rates in the information technology sector accounted for 2.3 times, while in the field of information - 1.6 times.
Amount of income in the ICT sector and postal services in the first quarter of this year increased by 24.3 percent and amounted to 299 million manat compared with the first quarter of 2010 . According to the Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies of Azerbaijan, the GDP in non-oil sector in the first quarter totaled 4 951.0 million manat, while the real volume of growth - at the level of 5.6 percent .
Amount of income for the ICT sector and postal services in non-oil GDP in the first three months of the year amounted to 3.9 percent . 80 percent of the income earned on the ICT sector and postal services accounted for non-state enterprises .
For the three months, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies of Azerbaijan has invested 33 million manat in the ICT sector and postal services . The amount of investments by enterprises and institutions of the Ministry totaled 23.14 million manat .
According to the data provided by the State Statistics Committee, the amount of information and communication services rendered to business entities and population in Azerbaijan in January-March 2011 totaled 287.4 million manat, or 23.5 percent more than the same period of last year.
Of the total amount, 74.2 percent accounted for the services provided to population . About 64.8 percent of revenues accounted for mobile services. Of the total income , 70.3 percent fell on the mobile market , the growth rate of which amounted to 14.4 percent as compared to the same period of the last year .
The number of mobile subscribers in Azerbaijan during the first quarter increased by 335,400. During the reporting period, the number of mobile subscribers was 9,446,400 people. As of April 1, there are 7.2 million active numbers that is 13.6 percent more than the same period of the last year.
This is due to the tense activities of the mobile operators in the country that constantly raise the quality of their services. Thus, the number of active subscribers of Bakcell mobile communication company in Azerbaijan reached 2.5 million. The company's network operates 2,000 base stations, allowing to cover 98.7 percent of the Republic's territory, including remote regions. The network of Bakcell covers more than 95 percent of the population and 82 percent of the country's territory. In general, due to investments, the capacity of the network infrastructure of Bakcell was increased four times.
Azercell Company has been operating in the mobile services market since 1995, today the number of company's subscribers has reached 4.2 million people, of whom 300,000 joined the network of operator last year. At present Azercell's network covers 80 percent of the territory and 99.8 percent of the population of Azerbaijan.
The coverage area of the youngest mobile communication company in Azerbaijan, Azerfon, is 80 percent and the number of subscribers - 1.7 million.