The Azerbaijani information and communication technology sector (ICT) is one of the most dynamically developing sectors of the national economy due its profitability and total profitability of this business.
According to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Communications and High Technologies, the amount of investments in the sector of information and communication technologies and postal services amounted to 209.8 million manat in Azerbaijan in January-September 2016.
The amount of investments in the sector increased by 2.2 times and amounted to 1.8 percent of the total amount of investments in the country’s economy compared to the same period of 2015.
The investments made through the ministry amounted to 25.5 million manat. The income obtained by structural subdivisions of the ministry amounted to 252 million manat during the reporting period.
The projected tariff revenues were executed with a 4.9 percent deficit. The ministry transferred 44 million manat to the country’s state budget in January-September, and 19 million manat to the State Social Protection Fund under the Ministry of Labor, which is by 48.8 percent and 33 percent more respectively compared to 2015.
Information and communication services worth 1.171 billion manat were rendered for Azerbaijan's population and organizations in January-September 2016 or 5.5 percent more than in January-September 2015.
Some 80.9 percent of income received through the communication sector accounted for the non-state enterprises during the reporting period.
Around 72.5 percent of the total volume of information and communication services accounted for the services rendered to the population.
Some 52.3 percent of a total volume of obtained income accounted for mobile services.
Mobile communication
The revenues worth 612.1 million manat were obtained through mobile services in Azerbaijan in January-September 2016 or by 7 percent less than in the same period of 2015 (657.5 million manat).
The number of IMEI-codes of mobile phones registered in Azerbaijan decreased by 4.4 percent in September 2016 compared to August.
Some 59,100 mobile devices were registered in the system in September.
Some 467,700 devices were registered in the IMEI-code system in January-September 2016, which is by 13.4 percent less than in the same period of 2015.
The total number of registered IMEI-codes has exceeded 1.14 million registrations after the system was launched.
Operating system market
Android is the most popular operating system in Azerbaijan. As of October 1, it ranks first with a 37.8 percent share on the operating system market.
As of September 2016, Android’s share decreased by 3.6 percent on the Azerbaijani operating system market.
Android’s share decreased by 2.2 percent on the Azerbaijani operating system market compared to the same period of 2015.
A Microsoft Windows 7 market share increased by 6 percent in Azerbaijan as of September 2016. Windows 7 is one of the most popular operating systems in Azerbaijan and ranks second on the operating system market with a 29 percent share.
A Windows 7 share on the Azerbaijani operating system market reduced by 5.6 percent compared to January-September 2015.
iOS with a 10 percent share ranked third. iOS market share decreased by 4.4 percent, Windows XP – 3.37 percent, Windows 8.1 – 3.9 percent, Windows 10 – 5 percent, Windows 8 – 1.8 percent and others in September compared to August.
PC market
The market share of desktop computers increased by 5.7 percent in Azerbaijan as of September 2016 compared to August 2016, the Global Stats statistical center said.
The market share of desktop computers reached almost 48 percent in Azerbaijan as of October 1, 2016 or by 4 percent more than in the same period of 2015.
The sale of portable computers such as notebooks and netbooks decreased by 4.7 percent as of September.
The market share of notebook computers reached 48.3 percent in Azerbaijan as of late September or by 1.6 percent less than in 2015.
The market share of tablet computers in Azerbaijan makes up 6 percent. This segment reached 3.7 percent as of October 1, which is by 21.2 percent less than in the same period of 2015.
The market share of notebook computers increased by 5 percent in Azerbaijan as of January- September 2016, while desktop and tablet computers decreased by 2.3 and 24.1 percent accordingly.
Internet
The volume of incoming Internet traffic in Azerbaijani primary provider Delta Telecom’s network increased by 6.2 percent and reached 170 gigabits compared to early September.
The dynamics of the network load varies depending on the time of day and the maximum load is observed in the evening (22:00 - 01:00) - 170 gigabits. In the morning this index reduces up to 20 gigabits.
According to Delta Telecom, volume of outgoing traffic depending on the time of day ranges from 10 gigabits to 30 gigabits.
Delta Telecom’s traffic is divided among 25 telecommunications operators (state and private Internet service providers, mobile operators and others).
As of October 3, the largest volume of Internet traffic delivered to the end users accounted for Aztelekom state Internet service provider (26.9 percent), BakinterNet with a 21 percent share ranked second, AG Telecom with a 9.7 percent share ranked third.
The remaining 42.3 percent are distributed among such companies as AZUninet, Azintex, BakinterNet, QlobalNet, Ultel, AlfaNet, AzNet, Caspel, MegaTelecom, Avirtel, Castel, Nakhchivan, Azercell, AzStarNet, Connect, Information and Computing Center (ICC), the Ministry of Communications and High Technologies of Azerbaijan, Azerin, DATAPlus, Smart Systems, Azeronline, Bakcell, Eurocel and TransEuroCom.
Some 25,270 Internet resources were registered in the national domain zone .az. As of January-September 2016, the number of websites registered in the domain zone .az increased by 2.8 percent.
Some 23,572 of the total number of registered websites account for Internet resources registered in the first level domain, which is by 3.2 percent more than in early 2016.
The most popular second-level domain is .com.az. Some 1,003 websites were registered there decreasing by 2.9 percent.
The .edu.az domain with 268 websites ranks third. As of January-September, the number of websites registered in .edu.az increased by 9.3 percent.
National zone .az officially began to operate August 25, 1993. The .az domain registration costs 20 manat. The annual maintenance also costs 20 manat.
As of January-September 2016, the amount of funds obtained by the Baku Telephone Communications Production Union for rendering broadband Internet services was 24 million manat.
According to the production union, this index is by 1.3 million manat more compared to the same period of 2015.
The number of broadband connections to the state communication operator’s network has increased by 8,900 since early 2016. As of October 1, 2016, the total number of broadband Internet ports reached 219,000, of which 198,000 are in operation. As of January-September 2016, the number of the state operator’s ports increased by 5,596 units.
The capacity of Baku’s public telephone network increased by 2,338 numbers up to 789,000 numbers. At present, 633,000 numbers are in operation.
The Production Union created the necessary conditions for the development of business of private Internet service providers. Currently, private providers render broadband services to 55,000 users through the state operator’s network.
The telecommunications operator used GPON technology (Gigabyte Passive Optical Network) at 564 and 430 automatic telephone exchanges to improve the quality of data transmission services.
The introduction of GPON technology will enable the operator to provide end users with broadband services at a speed of 100 Mbit / s.
Internet resources
The activity of Facebook users increased by 5.7 percent in Azerbaijan in September 2016 compared to August 2016.
The index decreased by 1.2 percent in January-September 2016.
As of October 1, 2016, the share of Facebook in Azerbaijan reached 89.7 percent or by 11 percent more than in the same period of 2015. By popularity Facebook ranked first on the Azerbaijani social media market.
The activity of Twitter users decreased by 51.8 percent in Azerbaijan in September 2016 compared to August 2016.
Twitter with a 3.4 percent market share ranked second.
The activity of Twitter users decreased by 16.4 percent in Azerbaijan compared to early 2016.
VKontakte social network ranks third with a 2.02 percent market share, Youtube – 1.16 percent, Pinterest - 1.72 percent, Google+ - 0.13 percent, Tumblr – 0.87 percent and others.
e-commerce
According to the Azerbaijani State Statistics Committee, the total volume of e-commerce market amounted to 11 million manat in Azerbaijan in January-September 2016.
The total volume of retail e-commerce increased by 3.2 percent in Azerbaijan compared to the same period of 2015.
The volume of retail e-commerce of non-food items increased by 1.6 percent and amounted to 10.6 million manat for January-September 2016 compared to the same period of 2015.
The retail trade turnover exceeded 21.1 billion manat in Azerbaijan in January-September 2016 or by 2.3 percent more than in the same period of 2015.
е-signature
According to the Azerbaijani Communication and IT Ministry, the total number of electronic digital signatures (e-signatures) issued by the Azerbaijani National Certification Services Center in January-September 2016 reached 19,892. The state bodies were provided with 16,470 e-signatures, 2,650 e-signatures were issued to the legal entities and 772 to citizens.
In general, as of October 1, 2016, some 97,124 people have used e-signature since the beginning of e-signature issuance. Some 64,008 e-signatures were issued to state organizations, 16,526 e-signatures - legal entities and 16,590- citizens.
E-signature simplifies the citizens' access to e-services of the state organizations, which are available on the "Electronic Government" portal (e-gov.az). Some 331 services of the total number of approved electronic services (453) are available on the "electronic government" (e-gov.az) portal. Around 490 e-services are on the websites of Azerbaijani state organizations.