Azerbaijani mobile operators apply for 3G licenses

At present, the ministry considers issuing of 3G licenses. The ministry will develop conditions, enabling the operators to expect licensing on the basis of applications.

Under the Cabinet of Ministers' decision, operators were required to submit information about the stages of work on launching the network, types of provided services and radius of network coverage, technical characteristics of equipment, experience of setting up a 3G pilot zone, as well as the conclusion of the State Radio Frequencies Commission under the law "On telecommunications" to obtain a license for the deployment of 3G standard.

Now, the operators are considering LTE and UMTS technologies to introduce 3G.

On Aug.7 Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on the services requiring a special license, which includes issuing licenses for the provision of 3G services.

According to the decree, the Cabinet of Ministers is in charge of determining the additional conditions required for issuing licenses within a month. The government has set the cost of license at 11,000 manat.

The document, adopted by the government for the fist time, is the basis for allocating radio frequencies, licensing the use of radio frequency resource, providing permits for the operation of radio-electronic machinery and determining the limits of their use in the republic's territory.

/Trend Capital/