BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Aztelekom, a part of AZCON Holding company, and Huawei announced today that the nation’s “Online Azerbaijan” broadband connectivity strategy has covered 99.7% of Azerbaijan.
Khinalig in Azerbaijan is one of the remote mountain villages connected through “Online Azerbaijan” / Image credit: Huawei
Up to 3 million households and businesses – both in major cities and remote villages – now have full access to high-speed Internet and digital services, with 2 million of those connected within the past two years. Today, virtually all of the nation’s 10.45 million people have access to high-speed Internet.
“We approached this initiative not merely as a technological upgrade, but as a strategic investment aimed at reducing digital disparity, ensuring equitable access to digital services, and enabling the digital transformation of public services,” said Hasan Omarov,
CEO of Aztelekom. “The ‘Online Azerbaijan’ megaproject is one of the largest infrastructure initiatives in our country’s history. For the first time, citizens, regardless of their place of residence, are provided with equal access to high-speed, reliable Internet services and equal digital opportunities. Huawei’s high technical potential, innovative solutions, and proven capability in delivering large-scale projects have played a critical role in the development of Azerbaijan’s digital infrastructure. Building on the foundation of the ‘Online Azerbaijan’ megaproject, the deployment of advanced technologies such as 10G and 50G PON will further enable the delivery of ultra-fast, reliable, and high-capacity broadband services to homes and businesses in the near future.”
Launched by the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport in 2021, the “Online Azerbaijan” initiative is aligned with government targets of increasing average Internet speeds on stable broadband network to 50 Mbps by 2025. Under its TECH4ALL digital inclusion program, Huawei has played a key role in infrastructure build out, including connecting some of the nation’s most remote villages with all-optical gigabit fiber solutions.
“Huawei is committed to using its technologies and solutions to bridge the digital divide and enable an inclusive and sustainable digital world,” said Cui Yangyang, Director of the TECH4ALL Program Office for Huawei. “Ensuring that everyone has access to high-speed Internet, no matter where they are located, unlocks opportunities for every citizen and empowers them to contribute to the nation’s growing digital economy and prosperous future.”
Huawei’s all-optical telecommunications solutions focus on building end-to-end infrastructure that replaces traditional electrical switching with optical technologies to meet high bandwidth and low latency demands.
Project targets were set based on the population density, infrastructure potential, and social indicators of each of Azerbaijan’s 14 economic regions. At project launch, the average Internet speed in Azerbaijan was just 11.7 Mbit/s, rising more than sevenfold to 88.84 Mbit/s by 2025. This progress is a direct result of robust and large-scale fiber infrastructure deployment, including the complete replacement of legacy copper-based networks with fiber optics. In just a year, Azerbaijan rose nine places in the UN E-Government Development Index, entering the top tier of digital governance in 2025 for the first time.
The project has been presented as a case study at various specialist events over several years. It has also won five different international awards and been published as an exemplary business case by Harvard Business Review Türkiye and in Principles of Modern Marketing by Philip Kotler.
Previously, many of Azerbaijan’s rural areas had limited access to modern connectivity and digital services. In traditional remote mountain villages like Khinalig, for example, the introduction of high-speed and reliable connectivity has significantly enhanced local opportunities, supporting small- and medium-businesses, stimulating tourism, and enabling local artisans to share their traditional crafts with a global audience through livestreaming. Improved connectivity has also expanded access to online education for rural schools, helping bridge the digital divide and providing rural students with greater access and learning opportunities comparable to those of their urban peers.
Alongside online education, projects covering tele-medicine and smart cities are being implemented across the country. In its next phase, the “Online Azerbaijan” project will focus on extending 5G and the Internet of Things to most remote regions, while placing strong emphasis on energy efficiency and green technology adoption.
About TECH4ALL
TECH4ALL is Huawei’s long-term digital inclusion initiative and action plan. Enabled by innovative technologies and partnerships, TECH4ALL aims to enable an inclusive and sustainable digital world: https://www.huawei.com/en/tech4all
