Azerbaijan operator Azercell, the leading operator in the market, says it has launched a large-scale project to expand coverage and increase the capacity of its 4G LTE network across the country.
The company plans to deploy more than 300 new base stations and upgrade about 1,600 existing base stations throughout Azerbaijan in the next 18 months, bringing the total number of LTE base stations deployed to over 3,200.
Local news reports suggest that the project will lead to capacity growth of Azercell's 4G network of about 80% in the capital Baku and the Absheron Peninsula. The rise will be a lower but still impressive 75% in other regions. Last year the operator made 4G high-speed mobile internet available in all stations and tunnels of the Baku Metro.
Azercell’s network expansion and modernization project also covers what are described as the liberated territories, generally seen as the Armenian-occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh returned to Azerbaijani control after the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war. Azercell has already installed more than 80 base stations in these regions.
Azercell says it will continue to invest in the expansion and modernization of its infrastructure, allowing it to provide platforms for the introduction of next-generation technologies in the Azerbaijani market. It says it is also developing products and digital solutions in line with the latest trends in the telecommunications industry.
According to the Azercell website the operator has more than 4.8 million subscribers and controls 49% of market share. The country’s population is around 10.11 million.