Turkmen Internet Prices Down, but Access Limited
Turkmen Internet Prices Down, but Access Limited
The cost of using the internet in Turkmenistan is falling, although access remains limited to a handful of places in urban centres, and many foreign sites are blocked.
On January, 26, the Turkmen media reported that internet prices had been reduced by 50 per cent to the equivalent of 40 US cents per hour.
In addition, the authorities have opened a new internet centre with 18 terminals at the National Library in Ashgabat.
These measures reflect a pledge to open up the internet made in 2007 by incoming president Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov. His predecessor, the authoritarian Saparmurat Niazov, had made it almost impossible for people to get information from the internet and foreign newspapers.
Berdymuhammedov also gave instructions that all new institutions including schools and kindergartens must be equipped with internet access capability.
The first internet cafes opened in March 2007, and there are now at least ten internet clubs and several public-access internet centres sponsored by international organisations. However, there are not enough of these places to cope with the growing number of internet users.
“In the American Youth Centre, you have to sign up two hours in advance of your 30-minute time slot to use the internet,” complained one user from Ashgabat.
NBCentral Asia observers say that over the past two years, internet prices have been reduced on two occasions. The latest price cut has boosted the number of customers visiting internet clubs.
“At the moment there are even queues,” said an Ashgabat-based media expert. “I used to go to three [internet] cafes and I would usually see two out of the four computers standing idle. People didn’t go to internet cafes because prices were so high.”
Young people say they are happy about the falling internet prices and hope the authorities will adopt other liberal measures.
“I wish they would abolish ID checks in the internet clubs and provide faster connections,” said a student as he waited for his turn.
“I would like to sit on the internet from morning till night if I could,” said a girl. “Now I can pay less.”
However, some commentators are pessimistic about the real scope of these measures. They point out that in 2008, the international watchdog group Reporters Without Borders listed Turkmenistan in the category of “enemies of the internet”.
Internet access in Turkmenistan remains limited, and the sole provider Turkmentelecom blocks all web resources that the authorities disapprove of, for instance the Turkmen opposition and human rights sites Gundogar, Watan, Tm-iskra and Turkmen Human Rights Initiative, western media such as RFE/RL, IWPR and the BBC, and Central Asian new sites like Centrasia.ru and Fergana.ru.
“We live in an information vacuum, and the authorities aren’t making any radical changes,” said a local journalist.
The journalist thinks unhindered internet access would be far more important to people than the free natural gas, electricity and salt they currently get from the state. “Life hasn’t got better because of them,” he said.
(NBCentralAsia is an IWPR-funded project to create a multilingual news analysis and comment service for Central Asia, drawing on the expertise of a broad range of political observers across the region. The project ran from August 2006 to September 2007, covering all five regional states. With new funding, the service has resumed, covering Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.)
On January, 26, the Turkmen media reported that internet prices had been reduced by 50 per cent to the equivalent of 40 US cents per hour.
In addition, the authorities have opened a new internet centre with 18 terminals at the National Library in Ashgabat.
These measures reflect a pledge to open up the internet made in 2007 by incoming president Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov. His predecessor, the authoritarian Saparmurat Niazov, had made it almost impossible for people to get information from the internet and foreign newspapers.
Berdymuhammedov also gave instructions that all new institutions including schools and kindergartens must be equipped with internet access capability.
The first internet cafes opened in March 2007, and there are now at least ten internet clubs and several public-access internet centres sponsored by international organisations. However, there are not enough of these places to cope with the growing number of internet users.
“In the American Youth Centre, you have to sign up two hours in advance of your 30-minute time slot to use the internet,” complained one user from Ashgabat.
NBCentral Asia observers say that over the past two years, internet prices have been reduced on two occasions. The latest price cut has boosted the number of customers visiting internet clubs.
“At the moment there are even queues,” said an Ashgabat-based media expert. “I used to go to three [internet] cafes and I would usually see two out of the four computers standing idle. People didn’t go to internet cafes because prices were so high.”
Young people say they are happy about the falling internet prices and hope the authorities will adopt other liberal measures.
“I wish they would abolish ID checks in the internet clubs and provide faster connections,” said a student as he waited for his turn.
“I would like to sit on the internet from morning till night if I could,” said a girl. “Now I can pay less.”
However, some commentators are pessimistic about the real scope of these measures. They point out that in 2008, the international watchdog group Reporters Without Borders listed Turkmenistan in the category of “enemies of the internet”.
Internet access in Turkmenistan remains limited, and the sole provider Turkmentelecom blocks all web resources that the authorities disapprove of, for instance the Turkmen opposition and human rights sites Gundogar, Watan, Tm-iskra and Turkmen Human Rights Initiative, western media such as RFE/RL, IWPR and the BBC, and Central Asian new sites like Centrasia.ru and Fergana.ru.
“We live in an information vacuum, and the authorities aren’t making any radical changes,” said a local journalist.
The journalist thinks unhindered internet access would be far more important to people than the free natural gas, electricity and salt they currently get from the state. “Life hasn’t got better because of them,” he said.
(NBCentralAsia is an IWPR-funded project to create a multilingual news analysis and comment service for Central Asia, drawing on the expertise of a broad range of political observers across the region. The project ran from August 2006 to September 2007, covering all five regional states. With new funding, the service has resumed, covering Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.)
