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The number of mobile users in Uzbekistan reached over 7 million as of 10 March 2008, the State Radio Frequencies Commission of Uzbekistan said. The commission said 6.87 million users were in Uzbekistan at the end of February this year. Uzbek mobile operators added 537,590 mobile subscribers in February 2008, which is 8.9% more compared with January 2008. About 6 million people used services of mobile operators in Uzbekistan as of 10 January 2008. Currently, there are five mobile operators working in Uzbekistan, including MTS-Uzbekistan, Beeline, Coscom, Perfectum Mobile and UzbekTelecom Mobile. Source: Uzbekistan Daily, 03/14/2008. Link to article: http://www.uzdaily.com/?c=119&a=3795

The first congress of IT companies of Kazakhstan is taking place at the “Intercontinental” Hotel in Astana today. The representatives of more than 150 Kazakhstan’s IT companies, state bodies, banking system and educational establishments participate in the congress. They are planning to work out recommendations to the Government and all interested enterprises on the development of the national IT branch. Source: Kazinform, 03/14/2008. Link to article: http://www.inform.kz/showarticle.php?lang=eng&id=161665

Reporters Without Borders annual reports cover freedom of speech and specifically Internet censorship in Central Asian States. Tajikistan http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=25644 President Rahmon signed into law on 23 August 2007 a parliamentary bill extending protection against defamation to online publications and allowing imprisonment of those convicted, as in the print and broadcast media. Punishment ranges from a fine of up to 1,000 times the minimum monthly wage to two years in prison or 500 hours of forced labor. The culture ministry said the amendments were needed to make online journalists and bloggers act responsibly. The Internet is increasingly used to criticize the country’s leaders. The press law has been amended four times since it was passed in 1990, each time reducing freedom of expression. Uzbekistan http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=25488 Said Abdurakhimov, of Uznews.net, and Alexei Volosevitch, of Ferghana.ru, were arrested by soldiers for no apparent reason on 23 July 2007 and lengthily interrogated. Uznews.net and Ferghana.ru are two independent anti-government news agencies. Access to their sites is blocked inside the country and their journalists do not usually get permission to work inside Uzbekistan. Turkmenistan http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=25584 President Berdymukhamedov took few very small steps towards freedom of speech that did not amount to any real improvements. Cybercafés were allowed to open in February and the country reportedly now has five, including at least two in the capital. This was seen as encouraging since Internet access in Turkmenistan is one of the most tightly controlled in the world, with only 1% of the population able to get online. Internet users were also given a chance to leave comments on one of the official news websites, http://www.turkmenistan.gov.tm/. In a few days, this feature was again restricted. Kazakhstan http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=25492 In January, a journalist from the news website kub.kz, Kazis Toguzbayev, was given a two-year prison sentence, along with probation, for posting an article accusing the regime of protecting the killers of opposition leader Altynbek Sarsenbayev, which the justice ministry found insulting to the dignity and honor of President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Kyrgyzstan http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=25486

Kuanishbek Yesekeyev, head of Kazakh Information and Communication Agency states: the number of Internet doubled since September 2007, when Kazakhtelekom lowered tariffs. 11 percent of Kazakhstan population uses Internet (household users). The government is satisfied with these numbers, however targets to double them. Active Internet growth in the country is leading ahead of radio and TV. The IC Agency aims to promote 30 most popular Internet websites: 10 government websites, and 20 private. As of January 2008 there are 23 thousand domain names, while there were 16 thousand in 2007; average growth is 43%. Resources located in Kaznet account for 5 thousand actively used. Overall, only Kaznet resources are used by 5 % of all traffic, available by operators. The rest traffic accounts for Russian network 86% and 10% of websites are located in Europe and USA - says Yesekeyev. Source: Radio Inkar-Info, Astana 03/07/08. Link to article in Russian: http://inkar.info/index.php?id=1587

Kazakh mobile phone company 'Kar-Tel' will hold an event in the framework of its social project 'Mobile Etiquette' in Almaty. The event is aimed to raise public awareness and knowledge of the accident risks of mobile phone use while driving. Previous research by local mobile companies Vimpelcom and Neyrokom stated that the mobile phone use increases the risk of an accident up to four times, and is adjunct to 27% of car accidents. The event is held under the banner: Source: CNews, 03.05.08 Link to article in Russian: http://www.cnews.kz/news/line/index.shtml?2008/03/05/104563

The state program - Reduction of Information Inequality for 2007-2009 - intends to reach the 20% level of computer literacy among Kazakh citizens and Internet users. It is aimed to receive 15 bln tenge ($11,57 mln) from budget. Around 200 thousand people received computer education, while the target number is 2,2mln. Monitoring the implementation of the project, Fond Soros, concludes that during the first year of the project only 10% of the considered population has been affected, and 80% of population has never heard of it. There are also hardships with evaluation of the program affects. It is impossible to track the actual money allocation and get quality information about the results. Thus, the quantitative information provided by the government is not trust worthy and the process is lacking transparency. The program is lacking educational information in the regions that would confirm the opportunity and explain the benefits of ICT use on actual examples: in newspapers, TV, and posters. The goal is to offer computer classes for free. However, the fact that the classrooms were empty during the summer period, while the summer break for students, mean that the students were unaware of such opportunity. Thus, the article shows that it is important for policy makers to enforce implementation of the program in Kazakh massive campaign to eliminate computer illiteracy. Source: CNews, 03.04.08, Link to article in Russian: http://internet.cnews.kz/news/top/index.shtml?2008/03/04/104529