Telecommunication operation in Azerbaijan

Hence, the thechnical operation of communication sector should provide for long-termoperation measures to raise the telecommunication to the level of world"s developed countries. For this to happen, it is essential to improve the oerganizational structure of the branch, to update communication network indices and thus integrate them into the world telecommunication infrastructure.

A question arises: how far is the Ministry of Transport, Communication and High Tech (MTCHT) ready to operate new telecommunication means and which of the below-cited engineering solutions can be suggested to attain the goal:

* A share of IP-telephonic for corporative and departmental communication networks;

* Systems of distributed telemetry and monitoring of technological processes for remote information acquisition and communication network management of the country; о

* Reference-information systems in the branch to optimize the work of telecommunication companies acting in the country;

* Applied software for calculation of branch indices for design solutions of new networks through optimizing them by criteria of costs, reliability and sustainability;

* Effective management of business-processes of enterprises, including wider spectrum of communication equipment, etc.

Another example: as is known, communication networks of common use are an enormous complex of interacting networks controlled by various operators in charge of joint services for all consumers of the country. Given the above, operators should comply with rules of technical maintenance of communication sector, as well as standards of mutual communication and reciprocal payments. Note that a failure to observe the standards above may result in the loss of service quality to the complete disorganization of reliable communication in Azerbaijan.

All things considered, national networks are notable for high time lag in respect of new technological solutions many of which make it necessary to revise already established approaches to the construction and operation of country"s network infrastructure.

In considering the above-stated, one of the crucial tasks in telecommunication operation is to reduce risks of operators and providers when assigning new technical personnel to run existing communication networks, ensure continuity and compatibility of this personnel and manage network solutions in the country"s communication sector.

It is worth emphasizing that the introduction of digital technologies has a new effect on sector"s use: a level of employment in telecommunication slightly dropped and operation tasks in the sector have radically changed, though not all.

Some experts believe that the growth of employment may take place in the communication sector (however, today it still tends to drop) if independent sector regulators are promoted to thus improve their qualification at the expense of information technologies (IT). From professional affiliation standpoint, specialists engaged in telecommunication may conventionally be divided into two main categories: qualified specialists and office workers.

Pertaining to the first category are specialists of station and linear-cable systems, technicians to serve complex equipment on external systems, as well as specialists of communication centers, including software specialists. These positions call for higher qualification specialists proficient in software and central stations, as well as their operation. In addition to higher education specialists (technical higher educational institutions of the country), there is currently need in re-training specialists at Training Centers (TC). The TC should organize refresher courses for specialists engaged in communication enterprises, not to put them in a cache of production.

Pertaining to the second category (office workers) are operators of enquiry service (Telecom of operators and providers), authorized personnel to work with subscribers, accounting and sales department workers, as well as those off-offices in charge of commercial contacts with clients (subscribers).

The main thing is that wages of technical specialists be higher than those of office ones.

The MTCHT as successor to the Ministry of Communication has always controlled the country"s communication sector (variously titled) to render services on the basis of 150 years-old station, linear, underground and overhead utilities owned by Azerbaijani postal workers.

Of interest is the fact: is the communication sector busy with designing communication networks with due regard for standards of technological designing (STD); long-term planning of communication network development, including signaling and transport network; expertise and technical audit of network solutions as a whole; working-out of requirements and standards of enterprises when it comes to specifications of protocols and interfaces of devices operating in the country, etc.

To attain the goal, it is also essential to engage sectoral or independent communication institutions (design, scientific-research and training ones) or today"s University of Transport and Communication of Azerbaijan that integrates all three tasks into one.

Main directions in the development of country"s communication sector operational policy are improvement of the intellect of operating networks through the creation of database, information processing centers, specialized networks and additional services within the already existing net services.

Of particular importance is a linear-cable system (LCS) and the last mile (subscriber line) of our networks, especially in the regions of Azerbaijan, in rural locality where violations in LCS operation risk, in a short while, perturbing normal functioning of this infrastructure in the regions. This, first of all, has an impact on the quality of telephone communication and Internet in the country.

The best way to perform the task is to have top quality specialists in the country. At one time the European Community (EC) thought about it, and in 1998 the Azerbaijani telecommunication training center was set up (АzTTC), Project - TNAZ 9601 (worth $ 1 million) according to TASIS under the Azerbaijani Technical University (АzТU) with direct participation of the Ministry of Communication of Azerbaijan.

It is anybody"s guess how far the Telecom Technoparks under the MTCHT (widely spread worldwide) is successful in testing and working-off network solutions and in introducing novelties into operating communication networks upon availability of the related centers:

* Methodological center on testing a new telecom communication equipment;

* Pattern network to test technologies inculcated into the branch;

* Center to summarize methods of operation of new technologies;

* Center of development and introduction of new services, operators and providers, etc.

The question is that the centers mentioned above would enable communication operators to evaluate functionality, compatibility and prospects of solutions suggested while equipment producers could illustrate in practice their equipment through holding seminars and conferences for employment of new technologies.

It must be said that the operational successes of operators and providers are largely dependent upon effectiveness of control system services quality and, in the first term, alternative and competition in the communication system of Azerbaijan.

To all probability, main efforts of communication sector should be directed towards provision of compatibility of network solutions on operating equipment, annual inventory of operating networks and technical audit of MTCHT decisions. For this reason, new approaches to the activities of operator" companies oriented towards business-processes, allow to raise a level of consumer" services to have a positive impact on profitability and investment attractiveness of these companies.

One more question arises: has the MTCHT its own projects on operations as follows: evaluation of services quality; evaluation of management systems at voluntary certification; working-out of standards of enterprises; attribution of quality of services standards; development of agreements on services quality, etc. Most likely, irremovability of operation method is not a victory of the communication sector. Luckily, methods of work of country"s private operators, including Ultel, Azercell, Bakcell (in due time АzEvroTel) were carried out at the European level independently of the MTCHT. It"d be appropriate to know whether our MTCHT has its own Testing Center (TC) for telecommunication means, system of certification of communication and management systems by quality of communication services in Azerbaijan. At present where nearly half of the telephone communication of Azerbaijan has gone to networks of the next generation - Next Generation Network (NGN) which is undoubtedly supportive of full integration of three services: speech transmission, data transfer and multimedia.

However, the diagnostics is not removal of damages (as is the case in medicine), so networks in situ (in regions) should be supplied with all the necessary measuring instruments. In all probability, financial potentialities of the MTCHT will be suffice in future to raise wages of engineers and technicians (ET) up to the level of European countries and get sectoral institutions out of deadlock. Otherwise, the situation tends to repeat as was the case with joint venture (JV) "АzEvroTel" (founded in 1995 by the Ministry of Communication of Azerbaijan and the "Lukoil Europe ltd" (Great Britain), attached to BakTelecom. http://www.zerkalo.az/2011-05-28/economics/19907-azeurotel.