Statistics in Telecommunications of Azerbaijan

Nathan Rothschild claimed: "Who owns the information, he owns the world."

And the Europeans also have a good saying: "If you want to know your history, study the history of your neighbors," which, by translating it into statistics, means that if you want to know your statistics, study the statistics of your neighbors.

The statistics of telecommunications studies the processes of one of the sectors of the economy - communications and gives a quantitative and qualitative description of the processes occurring in the communications sector, providing the country's leadership with data for planning, forecasting, and economic analysis of the country's telecommunications enterprises.

To rely on our native statistics is probably just unproductive, as the situation in the industry is not always really displayed there, which can be the reason for not very effective management system. The subject of official accounting for telecommunications statistics probably should be the branch Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technology (MTCHT) of Azerbaijan. Usually, according to the terms of submission, the statistics are monthly, quarterly and annual (the volume of services rendered by telecoms operators for all types of communication, the development of fixed and mobile communications, the exchange of traffic on communication networks, etc.), and data on communication facilities, technical means of long-distance and international, urban and rural telephone, post and telegraph communication, television, radio broadcasting, satellite and radio communications, land radio communication with mobile objects, the length of the main and intra-regional communication lines , telecommunications services in the mobile, etc.

It is also known that on the recommendation of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the measure of the level of development of the communication sector of any country is the density of fixed telephone sets per 100 inhabitants. However, according to the dynamics of the development of this parameter, Azerbaijan is the seventh among 11 CIS countries, as it can be seen from the data of the annual statistical compilation of the Regional Commonwealth in the field of communication of CIS countries (http://www.rcc.org.ru-2015).

Apparently the only unified indicator of CIS countries' statistics on communications is the Statistical Compilation of the Commonwealth Regional Union (CRU) of CIS countries, published by the Executive Committee as an indicator of the communications sector. The collection is published in Russian and English, on paper and electronic (CD) media, and the source of information for the collection is the official data received from communications administrations and communications operators of the CIS countries, CRU participants, and Azerbaijan has been a full member of CRU since December 17 1991.

Probably, we cannot rely on public statistics (expressed in two phrases by someone), which, to put it mildly, does not correctly reflect the situation in the communications sector and, apparently, it is not by chance that the European Union (EU) allocated to us in 2016 1.2 million euros for the improvement of the National Statistical System of Azerbaijan. http://minval.az/news/123540645

The main task of telecommunications statistics is to provide information management of the communications sector, reliable and scientifically grounded information, characterizing the state and development of the communications sector of Azerbaijan - telephone, telegraph, facsimile, data transmission, the Internet and other types of messages, as well as television, sound and other types radio and wire broadcasting; satellite, mobile, and cellular communications ....

To assess the level of the development of the communications sector of Azerbaijan, we apparently need to at least publish annual statistics per 100 residents of the country on the following three parameters: 1. The number of personal computers (PCs); 2. The number of fixed telephones (FT) and 3. The number of fixed Internet subscribers in the country, which is not difficult, with such computerization of the country.

Probably otherwise, the ultimate goal of the evolutionary process of the development of domestic informatization will be the full connection of the country to the Global Information Infrastructure (GIS), to obtain the required data anywhere and anytime, and we apparently need to complete it.

There is an example from the history of the Ministry of Communications of Azerbaijan. It is believed that on December 6, 1881, that is 5 years after the invention of the telephone in the USA in 1876, the first phone line was put into operation in Bering & Kº by the Nobel Brothers Production Association in Baku. Apparently, therefore, by decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan from 02.XII.06, the day of December 6 is accepted as a professional holiday of workers in the communications industry of the country.

However, the beginning of the development of telecommunications (which includes radio, telegraph, telephone, television, the Internet ...) in Azerbaijan seems to have been 1868 (the beginning of the development of telegraphy), when for strategic reasons of the Tsarist government Tbilisi was connected by telegraphy to two our cities - Baku through Ganja (Elizavetpol) using Morse apparatus. With the same purpose in 1879, an underwater 3-wire telegraph cable was laid between Baku and Krasnovodsk (Turkmenbashi city). The question is also - how do we deal with this statistics?

Probably, the truth about the state of the communication sector in Azerbaijan cannot be subjective, as the truth is something open and transparent; moreover it is one for all. Perhaps, therefore, his majesty Statistics has only one language - it implies and, as a rule, points to the same. Apparently, unfortunately, not all statistical agencies operate with exact numbers, and the main reason for this phenomenon is usually considered to be the "shadow economy", which is not reflected in official statistics, which leads to an increase in the uneven distribution of income.

Mankind has entered a new unknown information age. And the degree of civilization of countries will probably be measured not only by the advancement in democracy or by inclusion in the WTO, but also by the level of development of telecommunications in these countries. And apparently, therefore, the civilized world recognizes only one transparent parameter for mutual relations between the Communications Administrations (Ministry of Communications) of the countries of the world recognized by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) - this is a real traffic flow.

Apparently our Azerbaijan in terms of mentality, has not completely abandoned the Soviet principles of trust in "truth descended from above". More than 25 years have passed since the country"s independence was declared, but we still consider people who think differently, or not within "the official course" for some reason, to be "oppositionists."

Further, according to the Ministry of Communications, more than 75% of the country's population have access to the Internet (http://news.day.az/economy/798090.html), and in the statistical project Internet Live Stats, it is shown that our access to the Internet is 61.1% of the population. After all, our rural telephone communication is almost 4 times worse than the urban one, which reduces the level of the Internet by regions of the country.

For example, ITU believes that access to mobile broadband Internet is technically open to 84% of the world's inhabitants, but they are used only by 47%, and the reason is "High prices, poor quality of services and other barriers represent a serious obstacle for the entry of more people into the digital world "http://minval.az/news/123641374

Therefore, to argue alternatively (in a different way) or even contrary to the "official opinions of state structures" does not mean to be an oppositionist. Moreover, in general to be an "oppositionist" does not mean to be "an enemy of your people" as it was under the Soviet system. Apparently, there is no doubt that the West is building on the alternative and the opposition the values ​​of modern democracy, about which we also have so much talk, but which is sometimes not so adequately perceived. After all, probably someone in Azerbaijan should follow both the alternative of the primary Internet provider of the country, and the cost (tariff policy) of the high-speed Internet services offered by our providers today?

And Delta Telecom is apparently the only leading operator in the Caucasus, which has been successfully operating in the telecom and information technologies market since 2000, applying complex measures for corporate customers, state structures, banks ... although we witnessed the reliability of their work by the MNS case in the autumn of 2015.

Practice shows that, unfortunately, not always and not everywhere the participation of the state in the activities of the industry is the determining factor of its development. Apparently, sometimes insignificant technical decisions of the "bosses" can redistribute millions from traditional state operators (apparently appropriating budgetary funds) to their new private enterprises (so apparently the events of the fall of 2015 in the Ministry of Communications?).

For example, only one organization was engaged in the management of incoming and outgoing traffic in the country under the USSR, and today apparently everyone wants to have their own "organization", and sometimes not one. Analysts estimated 10 years ago that piracy and fraud cost the communication networks up to $ 13 billion per year, and these losses grow somewhere by 10-15% per year (Vestnik Svyazi No. 6, Moscow, 2005. ).

It is believed that unauthorized access to communications (data outside of statistics) is one of the main threats to telecommunications operators of any country, causing enormous material damage (somewhere up to 15-30% of all traffic).

And tariffs become high only if monopoly dominates the telecommunications market, there is no alternative and competition (for local and long-distance communication), and people agree with existing tariffs, and this is not only in the communications sector.

Personally, I do not like it when Azerbaijan is criticized, and I do not want Western economic sanctions against my homeland. I'm more than confident that the sanctions will not affect the culprits heading the industries, but only ordinary citizens, i.e. the people.

The question is why we should not be proud, like Uruguay, of our social projects and provide computers and education to every citizen free of charge in the country, at least at the expense of our oil. (http://minval.az/news/30445/#sthash.e6GuLhr3.dpuf)

Yes, someone argued that: "Not every representative of the professional elite can rise to the next and last stage of popular recognition - to the level of the so-called national elite; for this he must have high civil and moral qualities."

Probably all this is about the former President of Uruguay, José Mujica. When you become acquainted with the realities of our statistics, it certainly seems a high probability.