Failures in communication lines slows Internet connection in country
By Nazrin Gadimova
Slow Internet connection in Azerbaijan is linked with the failures in communication lines in about half of cases.
Araz Aliyev, deputy head of the State Service for Antimonopoly Policy and Consumer Rights Protection under the Economy Ministry made the remark while talking to local media.
The service together with the Communications and High Technologies Ministry has recently created a working group, which was engaged in checking the speed of the Internet in the country, Aliyev said.
“We have received complaints that the speed of the Internet, received by subscribers, is lower than it was promised. We have considered these facts, and I would like to say that not all the complaints were well-grounded. In general, speed of Internet meets the requirements, but subscribers do not receive it completely. First of all this may be due to the failures on lines, as well as in equipment,” he explained.
Based on these complaints, Internet service providers have acted appropriately and most of the problems were solved, Aliyev said, noting that the group continues its work.
"This is not because there are many problems – the group is working to prevent occurrence of such problems and quickly respond to possible appeals of subscribers,” he concluded.
The number of Internet users in Azerbaijan with a population of over 9.6 million people reached 76 percent as of early 2016, according to the Communications and High Technologies Ministry. About 65 percent of the total number of Internet connections in Azerbaijan falls on the broadband access services that have an ability to transport multiple signals and traffic types simultaneously.
The Country’s government has developed a special project for further development of this area.
The ultimate goals of the project are to provide the whole territory of the country, including remote rural areas, with high-speed internet in the range of 10-100 megabits per second. Thus, the share of broadband Internet users will be brought up to 85 percent and this will allow Azerbaijan to reach the level of developed countries by 2017.
Today, the field of ICT, including the Internet, is a rapidly developing area. The state pays special attention to this sphere, which is a priority for the economic development of the country.
Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Communications and High Technologies is responsible for establishing and enforcing policy on electronic communications, acting both as a policymaking and as regulatory body. The Ministry also formulates proposals related to the provision of public investment in the ICT sector.
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Nazrin Gadimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @NazrinGadimova
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