Communications Ministry studies opportunities of alternative Internet channels
By Nazrin Gadimova
Azerbaijan is studying opportunities of alternative Internet channels to prevent its mass re-disconnection.
Elmir Valizade, Deputy Minister of Communications and High Technologies announced about this while talking to local media on March 17.
The country has already done a lot of work in this direction, according to Valizade.
Azerbaijan has lost nearly all of its internet connection due to technical issues on November 16, 2015. The problem occurred since a fire broke out in the lines connected to the DATA-center of Delta Telecom, Azerbaijan’s primary provider.
The backup system at the DATA-center failed to become operational, as there was a problem in the power supply of the company. Internet outage for several hours affected the functioning of some organizations in the country. Given that numerous operations are performed using the Internet, sudden interruptions can be catastrophic in terms of work of various structures.
Valizade stressed that the ministry came to the conclusion based on studying the above mentioned situation.
“Now, certain questions are being examined in order to provide an alternative to Internet channels, as well as ensure stability and high quality of the provided services,” he said.
Slow Internet connection in Azerbaijan is linked with the failures in communication lines in about half of cases, believes Araz Aliyev, deputy head of the State Service for Antimonopoly Policy and Consumer Rights Protection under the Economy Ministry.
The service together with the Communications Ministry has recently created a working group, which was engaged in checking the speed of the Internet in the country and revealed the problems in the internet connections.
Following the monitoring, Internet service providers have acted appropriately and most of the problems were solved, according to Aliyev.
Today, the field of ICT, including the Internet, is a rapidly developing area in Azerbaijan. The state pays special attention to this sphere, which is a priority for the economic development of the country.
Currently, some 75 percent of the population uses the Internet in Azerbaijan. Broadband Internet penetration among the population stands at 62 percent. For these indicators, Azerbaijan is twice ahead of the world average.
The volume of incoming Internet traffic in Azerbaijan reaches 190 gigabits, according to Delta Telecom. The largest volume of Internet traffic delivered to the end user accounts for the BakinterNet state Internet provider (over 33 percent) as of 2015.
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Nazrin Gadimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @NazrinGadimova
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