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The Kyrgyzstani ISP (Internet Service Provider) Elkat is giving cafes and restaurants in Bishkek the option of adding wireless Internet access. Six cafes in the city are already using Wi-Fi, which offers access to Internet resources by radio signal within the radius of pre-determined Hotspots from Elkat.

Source: itday.com.kg

Representatives of the national operators of the CIS countries met in the beginning of May on the shore of Lake Issyk-Kul within the framework of the annual joint session of the Telecom Operators Council and the Telecom Commission on Regional Communication Cooperation. Representatives from the Kyrgyzstani Association of Communication Operators, the Russian CDMA-450 Association, and some Kyrgyzstani mobile communication operators also attended the meeting.

The session included more than 20 questions, decisions on which were discussed and accepted by participants. Among the presentations pertaining to Central Asia was the petition to the Council of the Kyrgyzstani companies "Transit-Telecom" and the Russian CDMA-450 associations to become associate members. Also, "Kazakhtelecom" and "Rostelecom" acquainted participants with ways to optimize the commercial and technical conditions for cooperation between Commission operators, and the Moldavian, Uzbek and Kyrgyz national operators presented their experience in developing NGN (Next Generation Networks) networks.

Comment:This twice-yearly meeting is significant in that it promotes cooperation and sharing of ideas between telecom operators in the former Soviet Union, including the Central Asian republics.

The full article is available in Russian from itday.com.kg at the following URL: http://itday.kg/tamplate.php?r=Tema-IT&idart=57.

Fergana.ru reports that the Namangan regional administration of Uzbekistan has created a working group which conducted a check of Internet cafe and gaming center owners. The audit revealed 82 Internet cafes and gaming centers operating in the city of Namangan. A total of 113 Internet and computer game operators are registered, and all of them are working legally, in accordance with their licenses.

The audit was officially conducted as part of a youth anti-gambling and pornography campaign. However, fergana.ru believes this is a smokescreen for censorship, since the audit also verified access to news and political sites blocked in Uzbekistan, including fergana.ru, muslimuzbekistan.com, uzbekistanerk.org, and uznews.net.

The article also notes that it's not only Internet cafes and gaming centers that are being checked. For a long time now all departmental and official bodies have been reporting on the presence of office computers and Internet access.

The full text of the article is available in Russian at the following URL: http://www.ferghana.ru/article.php?id=5069.

The Jamestown Foundation reports that, seeking to create an atmosphere of international crisis over the relocation of the Soviet Army monument, the Bronze Soldier, from downtown Tallinn, top-level Russian authorities have been sabotaging the Estonian state's web servers since April 27. According to Justice Minister Rein Lang and Foreign Affairs Minister Urmas Paet, the cyberattacks on April 29 and 30 were traced to IP addresses in Moscow owned by the Russian presidential administration and government (Estonian TV, Eesti Paevaleht, April 30, May 1). The attacks have disturbed the entire information network of Estonia's state administrations, government and presidency. The effects are particularly disruptive on a country like Estonia, a European leader in the generalization of electronic governance.

Comment: This action shows Russia's willingness to use the Internet to attack members of the so-called "Near Abroad", former Soviet republics, which are doing things Russia doesn't like. Although the Central Asian republics are much more politically aligned with Russia than the Baltic ones, the possibility exists for similar kinds of actions to be taken against them, as well.

Doska.kg - a Kyrgyz electronic announcement board has a fast growing popularity. This, internet resource allows users to post advertisements free of charge for sale, purchase and exchange of goods and services. The site includes a range of advertisements from sale of cars, technology, real estate, rooms for sale and rent, sale of plants and animals. The web site was created by Kyrgyz Data&Design (KD&D) Company in February 2007 for the purpose of improvement of internet user’s work in the advertisement area in Kyrgyz internet-sites. In March 2007 the project was purchased by AKI Kyrgyzstan and the recognition of the project rapidly increased and is predicted to become the main billboard in Kyrgyz Internet space in short future. Since the beginning of its activity the project has more than 1000 registered users and more than 2600 posts. The director of the company who is sure that Doska has “enormous potential” states that each week the number of users grows up to a 100 users, the number of visitors is growing, and there is a number of the long-term advertisers. The name of the web site reflects the usual name used for announcement board – doska obyavleniy in Russian language. It is a latest addition to the fast developing interest space in Kyrgyzstan. Reference: Akipress.kg, 25-04-07 www.doska.kg