Azerbaijan

Information

ccTLD: AZ (the date of ccTLD delegation: 1993-08-25)

Population (Year)

8,347,200 (2000) 8,303,512 (2010) 8,372,373 (2011)

Internet Population (Year)

12,000 (2000) 3,689,000 (2010) 3,689,000 (2011)

Broadband Population (Year)

460,000 (2010)

IP Address Allocation (Year):

Number of IPv4 addresses: 516,096 (2012)

Number of IPv6/48s: 327,680 (2012)

Bibliography

mincom.gov.az/activity/information-technologies/internet/

Introduction

Internet

The Internet started to develop in Azerbaijan in 1993. The first Azerbaijani website was created in 1994 by the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, and the website of the President of Azerbaijan Republic, which was founded in 1997, became the first public Internet resource. Administration of the national top-level domain AZ has been carried out since 1993. From the first days the Internet developed by mainly private sector. Until 2000, the activities of Internet service providers (ISP) were conducted under a special permit (license), but in 2000 the licensing of such services was canceled, as a result of this any natural or legal person in the country is free to engage in the activity.

Currently, there are about 40 Internet service providers in the country, of which only three are state agencies (Aztelekomnet, Bakinternet and Azdatakom). ISPs operate in a healthy competition and a free market environment.Companies use wired and wireless communication technologies for access to the Internet. Application of WiMax and other wireless technologies are expanded. Connection of the country to the international Internet network is provided by two private companies (Delta Telekom and Azertelekom), which creates an alternative choice for ISPs. All three mobile operators in the country provide its subscribers with high speed internet access and provide 3G services. In general, if we take into account the fact that mobile penetration in Azerbaijan exceeded 100%, then we can actually say that every person has access to the Internet. The broadband access to the Internet in the country started in 2006, and in recent years there has been significant growth in the number of broadband internet users. The main reason for this is the result of the execution of public policies carried out for the development of ICT sector in the country, the expansion of e-government projects, increasing the role of the Internet in rendering of services.

[From Ministry of Communication and Information Technologies Website, mincom.gov.az]

Remark: Internet Governance Forum was held in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan in October 2012.