With a population of over ten million, Azerbaijan has an internet penetration of over 79.9%. While it is an extremely high ratio, compared to neighboring countries, internet access remains expensive for most citizens. The country’s internet infrastructure is rather poor, and as such, connection speeds are extremely slow and temporary blackouts tend to happen every so often. In addition, users have also reported experiencing connectivity issues during political events. In fact, internet freedom has declined in recent years. The government has made great efforts to try to silence those who oppose and speak against it, therefore, media censorship is quite frequent.
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Azerbaijan does have access to streaming services and digital media. Internationally known streaming services, like Netflix and Apple Music, are present in the country for those who wish to purchase a subscription. Digital TV is also available in the country. Nevertheless, the low quality of the internet in the country may prevent citizens from making the most of these services.
With poor internet infrastructures, it is no surprise that Azerbaijan’s entertainment offer is not very diversified. The country has a total of 47 television channels, of which four are public TV channels and the remaining are private television. Out of those, 12 are national, while the rest are regional channels.
In addition, the country benefits from having IPTV services to subscribe to. Albax TV is the first IPTV provider in Azerbaijan. It offers access to a wide range of channels from different countries, such as Azerbaijan, Turkey, France, Germany, and more. Subscriptions can be bought from as low as $5.87 (10 AZN) per month, however, purchasing a longer subscription is more beneficial as the total amount per year is the same as paying 10 monthly plans. This service offers up to 340 channels, such as Azerbaijani channels like AZTV, Lider, Space, CBC Sport HD, ARB TV, and more, but also international ones such as Cartoon Network, Planet Türk, Fashion TV, VH1 Europe, CNN International, OSN Movies, and others.
Fortunately, the service can be subscribed to in any part of the world. Given the country’s stance on online privacy and the slow internet velocity, Azerbaijani citizens might be interested in using a VPN to circumvent those restrictions and to connect to an outside IP address.
While the right to freedom of expression is guaranteed in the constitution, the government is known for failing to protect it, both offline and online. The country has actually applied strict legislation in order to monitor online traffic. In March 2017, the government began using Deep Packet Inspection technology. That same month, new laws allowed authorities to block online content. In addition, the Law on Operative-Search Activity authorizes law enforcement agencies to conduct surveillance without a court order.
In December of the same year, new additional legislation imposed fines on individuals, officials, and legal entities for disseminating banned content online. At the same time, the Parliament approved a set of amendments forbidding journalists from investigating certain information regarding the military. Telecommunication privacy is also very strict, as all mobile phones must be registered, along with the SIM card, IMEI, and mobile network. Mobile service providers are required to restrict service to any unregistered devices. As a result of these laws, freedom of speech has gravely declined. Social media networks still remain an important platform for citizens to voice their opinions and expose corruption.
Though most of the population expresses their opinions through social media networks, such as Facebook, activists’ activity is often limited by the legislation that was approved in recent years. Online activity has been the object of strict surveillance from the government’s side which has caused fear amongst most citizens. However, this does not only affect individuals. Newspapers and online media are also targeted by the regime, especially those that tend to speak up and write against it. Such strict policies obviously lead to self-censorship. It is universal across social media users, who are aware that expressing views that are contrary to the government will lead to criminal charges being brought against them.
As most Azerbaijanis receive their information from mainstream television, many are uninformed about certain topics, such as human rights. Since they are under strict government control, news is extremely biased. In addition, journalists are often victims of intimidation, to the point where some of them have to flee the country. Moreover, it isn’t uncommon that they see their internet and telephone communications being surveilled by authorities.
Since 2017, the government has frequently restricted webpages, particularly those associated with the opposition or investigation of politically-sensitive topics. In addition, citizens often report slow internet speeds during important events. In May 2017, Azerbaijani users reported connectivity issues surrounding the month’s Islamic Solidarity Games. Around election time, opposing parties saw their social media pages being hacked. Additional reports mentioned difficulties making and receiving voice calls on international apps, such as WhatsApp, Facebook, and Skype.
Despite its relatively poor internet infrastructure, Azerbaijan already benefits from the presence of two big, international streaming services. While both Netflix and Apple Music have launched national versions of their apps, other famous streaming services have neglected the country. And despite nationally-produced content being scarce, Netflix’s 327 series and 1,437 movies surely make up for the lack of competitors.
But the country doesn’t rely on foreign services for having access to entertainment. As mentioned before, the country has over 47 TV channels and an IPTV service with over 340 channels from different countries, that can be subscribed to for any part of the world.
However, with slow connection speeds and internet blackouts, those who want to enjoy Azerbaijan’s exclusive content might feel a bit frustrated. The solution is to use a VPN service to connect to an IP address from another location. As Albax TV can be used worldwide, users won’t lose access to it and can still enjoy the available content with a safe and anonymous connection.
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