100 inhabitants), and Internet usage in homes is moderate—it accounts for 41.6 percent of the total usage for 2007, up from 36.4 percent for 2006. For connectivity,
some individual subscribers rely on mobile telephony, though access remains expensive, with most using dial-up services as their primary means. Official survey results
for 2007 indicate that economic and educational barriers are the main contributing
factors for these low figures, with 31.4 percent blaming the high cost of computer
equipment and 21.8 percent indicating a lack of necessary skills. 11
The Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies (MCIT), together
with the Ministry of Education, Microsoft, and Hewlett Packard, has started the pilot
stage of the National PC Initiative aiming to provide conditions for a rapid increase of
the PC penetration rate (up to 15 percent) and e-society development. 12 The statebacked Program on Information of the Education System (2008–2012) plans to provide
Internet connectivity to all the schools of Azerbaijan. Currently, more than 200 secondary schools have been connected to the Internet (ADSL).
The cost of Internet service remains high for the average citizen: a DSL connection of
64 Kbps costs around USD 40–50 per month, and unlimited monthly access costs
around USD 35. For comparison, the average salary in the country is slightly over
USD 300 per month. While the cost of international traffic has gone down over the
last several years, the cost for usage of the local infrastructure remains unchanged. Approximately 50 percent of the expenses of small ISPs are local connection costs paid to
the state-owned company controlling the market. Because these expenses are the same
for all providers, they have agreed among themselves to charge end users the same
price for unlimited monthly dial-up service. Larger providers temporarily blocked the
ISPs that tried to contravene the concerted practice. In December 2007, for example,
two small providers—SuperOnline and AvirTel—were blocked by local ISPs (Adanet
and IntraNS) while trying to provide service at a lower price for the customers. Shortly
after the providers agreed to bring the price of their services into line, the block
was lifted. For similar reasons, the larger ISPs blocked another smaller local ISP—
Azeronline.
In Azerbaijan, fixed-line telephony is largely centralized in the hands of the stateowned telecom provider AzTelecom, which also acts as a commercial ISP. Delta Telecom
(previously operating as AzerSat) is the main ISP in the country, supplying international connectivity to at least 90–95 percent of all users. Delta Telecom also owns the
Internet international gateway and sells international traffic to almost all ISPs.
The nonprofit AZNET/AZRENA project provides connectivity to the educational
and research community and benefits from a satellite channel built under NATO’s
‘‘Silk Road’’ project. AzEuroTel started commercial activity as a telecommunications
company and thus managed to establish a relatively wide network infrastructure.
AzEuroTel and Adanet also have satellite channels to Russia. AzerOnline, which is
152
Azerbaijan
some individual subscribers rely on mobile telephony, though access remains expensive, with most using dial-up services as their primary means. Official survey results
for 2007 indicate that economic and educational barriers are the main contributing
factors for these low figures, with 31.4 percent blaming the high cost of computer
equipment and 21.8 percent indicating a lack of necessary skills. 11
The Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies (MCIT), together
with the Ministry of Education, Microsoft, and Hewlett Packard, has started the pilot
stage of the National PC Initiative aiming to provide conditions for a rapid increase of
the PC penetration rate (up to 15 percent) and e-society development. 12 The statebacked Program on Information of the Education System (2008–2012) plans to provide
Internet connectivity to all the schools of Azerbaijan. Currently, more than 200 secondary schools have been connected to the Internet (ADSL).
The cost of Internet service remains high for the average citizen: a DSL connection of
64 Kbps costs around USD 40–50 per month, and unlimited monthly access costs
around USD 35. For comparison, the average salary in the country is slightly over
USD 300 per month. While the cost of international traffic has gone down over the
last several years, the cost for usage of the local infrastructure remains unchanged. Approximately 50 percent of the expenses of small ISPs are local connection costs paid to
the state-owned company controlling the market. Because these expenses are the same
for all providers, they have agreed among themselves to charge end users the same
price for unlimited monthly dial-up service. Larger providers temporarily blocked the
ISPs that tried to contravene the concerted practice. In December 2007, for example,
two small providers—SuperOnline and AvirTel—were blocked by local ISPs (Adanet
and IntraNS) while trying to provide service at a lower price for the customers. Shortly
after the providers agreed to bring the price of their services into line, the block
was lifted. For similar reasons, the larger ISPs blocked another smaller local ISP—
Azeronline.
In Azerbaijan, fixed-line telephony is largely centralized in the hands of the stateowned telecom provider AzTelecom, which also acts as a commercial ISP. Delta Telecom
(previously operating as AzerSat) is the main ISP in the country, supplying international connectivity to at least 90–95 percent of all users. Delta Telecom also owns the
Internet international gateway and sells international traffic to almost all ISPs.
The nonprofit AZNET/AZRENA project provides connectivity to the educational
and research community and benefits from a satellite channel built under NATO’s
‘‘Silk Road’’ project. AzEuroTel started commercial activity as a telecommunications
company and thus managed to establish a relatively wide network infrastructure.
AzEuroTel and Adanet also have satellite channels to Russia. AzerOnline, which is
152
Azerbaijan