Azerbaijan could see launch of another mobile operator
By Nigar Orujova
Azerbaijan’s primary Internet provider, Azerbaijan Delta Telecom Company, is planning to provide mobile communication services.
The existing infrastructure of the company will be used for services, which will be based on the LTE standard.
“At the initial stage the company plans to deploy data services based on the fourth-generation network,” the company said. “The provision of voice services in the GSM standard is presupposed in the second phase, and therefore authorization from the Communications and High-Tech Ministry is necessary. The company plans to apply for the permit in the future.”
The company intends to expand its own mobile network infrastructure by installing new base stations, and have already identified equipment suppliers Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent for this purpose.
“The negotiations on the deployment of cellular networks have been held with these companies. At present, it remains only to solve the technical details of the project, which is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2016,” said Delta Telecom.
Mobile services will be promoted under a subsidiary of the Telecom Invest brand name.
Azerbaijan, a country with just over 9.5 million people, already has a mobile phone penetration rate at 112 percent.
At present, the country has three major mobile operators -- Azercell, Bakcell, and Azerfon -- covering almost the entire territory of the country excluding the occupied territories.
As of late, Azerbaijan is continuing to see a reduction in mobile phone imports to the country as a result of market saturation.
There were 13,447 mobile phones and other devices running on wireless networks imported in the first seven months of 2015, totaling $748,400. The number of imported mobile phones in the country has decreased by 72.1 percent in comparison with the same period last year, when 48,327 mobile devices were imported.
Over 88,000 mobile phones and other devices operating on wireless networks, totaling $5.1 million, were brought into the country last year.
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Nigar Orujova is AzerNews’s staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @o_nigar
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