International Telecommunication Union praises Azerbaijan`s initiative to provide high-speed internet access
Baku, January 27 (AZERTAC). Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Hamadoun Toure has praised initiative of the Azerbaijani government to provide the population with high-speed internet access.
In his address to the extraordinary meeting on “Broadband Internet and sustainable development” held on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 24, Toure hailed the government`s reforms in the ICT sector.
Azerbaijan`s Minister of Communications and Information Technologies Ali Abbasov chaired the meeting.
Abbasov briefed the meeting participants on the country`s accomplishments in this sector under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, saying his country had been provided with high-speed internet access.
The event also discussed the current issues in the field of broadband Internet solutions, impact of broadband Internet on the social sphere, and further funding of broadband Internet development.
Azerbaijan ranks first among the CIS countries in terms of Internet penetration among individual users, according to "State of Broadband Report 2013". Azerbaijan ranks 66th out of 194 countries, with 54.2 percent of individual Internet users, according to the report. In 2013, Azerbaijan's ICT sector grew by 14 percent, topping the average world indicator by almost two times.