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Turkmenistan’s telecommunications market in this poor and predominantly rural
country is relatively small but has been trying boldly to expand in recent
years. Its telecom services were considered to be the least developed of all
the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries when they took shape.
Since then, poor growth in telecom services can be attributed to a large extent
to the slow development of the private sector and state control over most
economic activities. Efforts to move towards a more market-oriented economy
have been limited. In the telecom sector there has been some progress, but this
limited progress has in turn been overwhelmed by significant setbacks.
The state-owned Turkmen Telecom has been the primary provider of public
telephone, email and internet services, and through a subsidiary, TM-Cell, it
has been operating a GSM mobile network in competition with a private mobile
operator, MTS Turkmenistan, since 2005 a subsidiary of the Russian-based MTS.
Not surprisingly it has been the mobile services that have been dominating the
expansion activity. In 2008 the country saw annual subscription growth in
excess of 140%, although growth slowed significantly to about 33% in 2009. As a
result, in a busy two-year period Turkmenistan, one of the smallest telecom
markets in the Central Asia region, saw its mobile penetration jump from 8% to
30%.
Mobile penetration had reached 63% (3.2 million subscribers) by December
2010, when the market was suddenly thrown into turmoil. The government
suspended MTS’ mobile licence and then decided not to renew the operator’s
mobile concession. MTS had been by far the dominant mobile operator up to that
stage with around 80% of the mobile subscriber base. It had also rolled out a
substantial network, covering around 85% of Turkmenistan’s territory. The
resolution of the dispute dragged on well into 2012 when the issues between the
government and the operator were finally sorted out and MTS was able to
re-launch its service in September of that year.
Growth of the internet sector in Turkmenistan had been seriously stifled
back in 2000 when the four existing independent ISPs were forced out of
business due to the government’s decision to grant Turkmen Telecom a monopoly
over data services. The abrupt closure of the ISPs was consistent with
government policy, which required tight control over all communications in the
country. Internet access continued to be severely restricted, and the few
internet cafes that existed in Ashgabat were closed down in 2002.
After two decades of repression, the incoming president, Gurbanguli
Berdymukhamedov, announced in 2007 that the government had re-opened internet
cafes in the capital Ashgabat and was set to follow this move in regional
centres. One hour of computer time cost about US$4, however, a high price in a
country where two-thirds of the population live below the poverty line and the
average monthly income was less than US$100. It was not immediately clear how
far these reforms would go. By 2010 it was evident that the new president was
keeping his promise about keeping the internet cafes open. There were still
considerable restrictions on the use of internet, however. In fact, in 2012
Reporters Without Borders included Turkmenistan as one of 12 countries in the
world classified as ‘Enemies of the Internet.’
For more information see – Turkmenistan- Telecoms, Mobile and Internet
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