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While a recent study by the United Nations' regional arm, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, ESCAP, suggests that only one per cent of Tajikistan's population uses the net, experts say the real figure is significantly higher. Telecommunications experts in Tajikistan argue that the real number of users is around ten times higher - ten per cent of a population of some seven million use the web. Yet this figure is still relatively low compared with the Asia-Pacific regional average of 20 per cent. The survey - which gauged the regional level of phone and internet use over the last five years - placed Tajikistan in the same category as Burma, East Timor, Bangladesh and Cambodia. Analysts cite a combination of factors, including poverty and the authorities' reluctance to facilitate wider access. Additional obstacles include: high taxes on computers that makes computer purchase unaffordable, unreliable power supply, and lack of locally generated content (less then 5,000 sites have Tajik domain names (ending in .tj.). Of these, only some ten per cent offer fresh information, while the others provide mainly chat and social networking sites. Source: IWPR'S Reporting Central Asia, No. 559, 24 December 2008. Link to article: http://www.iwpr.net/?p=rca&s=f&o=348714&apc_state=henh

Uforum.uz announced a competition on the best government website in Uzbekistan. The forum users would have an opportunity to evaluate about 20 websites, both of state administration and regional departments, and choose a winner from July 31 to Sept 10 2008. The three winners would reflect Uzbek government’s successes in ICT policy. The criteria includes: regularly updated information presented on the website, offering of interactive services, and information concerning government work. Organizers of the competition hope that this initiative would bring more attention of Internet users to government websites, as well as encourage local government organizations to utilize ICT opportunities more. Source: Infocom.uz, 01-08-2008. Link to article in Russian: http://ru.infocom.uz/more.php?id=3638_0_1_0_M10

This is an old article but it gives a comparison of Internet censorship in Asian states. It argues that authoritarian states like China, Iran and Egypt are having trouble dealing with the growing number of critical online diaries. These blogs expose news about incidents, and often challenge the official interpretation of events, that many regimes would prefer to keep hushed up. In many countries, blogs are giving people their first real taste of democracy. Governments take measures. Chinese government, with its roughly 111 million regular Internet users and estimated 4 million bloggers, employs a staff of about 30,000 Internet nannies to search for subversive content on China's Web sites (2006). It has at least five supervisory bodies over Internet including Internet Propaganda Management Department. (RWB, http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/Voyage_au_coeur_de_la_censure_GB.pdf ). It also draws a comparison and possible implications for Post Soviet space, which although not largely penetrated with Internet users, began to face the same issue. ‘It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between bloggers and bluffers, between political activists and provocateurs, especially in the Central Asian police states.’ ‘In Uzbekistan, for example, only the foreign employees of companies and aid organizations are able to blog without fear of consequences, whereas the locals can expect repression for voicing their opinions on the Internet.’ ‘Blogs originating in the Turkmen capital Ashgabat not only demonstrate a willingness to rebel, but also highlight the new medium's potential.’ Source: Spiegel Online, Blogging Toward Democracy. From China to Iran, Web Diarists Are Challenging Censors, 11/29/2006. Link to article: http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,450228-2,00.html

MTS - Russian mobile network company intends to invest in Turkmenistan $150 mln. In the next three years. The company also plans to send a group of Turkmen IT students for training to major Russian universities. MTS is the leading mobile network operator in Turkmen mobile phone market with the share of 85% in 2008. The number of users for May 2008 is 500 thousand people. Source: CNews, 05/14/2008, Link to article in Russian: http://www.cnews.kz/news/line/index.shtml?2008/05/14/106991

On 5-10 May 2008, representatives of national ICT ministries and ICT training institutions from five Central Asian states together with Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Mongolia gathered in Incheon, Republic of Korea to participate in a sub-regional training of trainers workshop on ICT Essentials for Government Leaders. Workshop covered the following topics: ICT Trends for Government Leaders, Internet Governance, Network and Information Security and Privacy. It is part of the initiative, called the Academy of ICT Essentials for Government Leaders - A Modular Training Programme, is undertaken by the United Nations Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development (UN-APCICT). APCICT aims to equip policy makers and government officials with the essential knowledge and skills they need to fully leverage upon opportunities presented by ICTs to achieve national development goals. Learn more about this initiative at: http://www.unapcict.org/ Source: UNESCO, 05/05/2008. Link to article: http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=26748&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

Anyone thought to be using the internet in Turkmenistan is under surveillance, and web traffic was being 'carefully filtered'. Nevertheless, a specialist with Turkmentelekom, the state monopoly provider, says the number of applicants for a connection is 'growing steadily'. In the capital Ashgabat, more than six thousand applications were received. He added that each application is scrutinized on an individual basis. The article implies that Internet restrictions are linked to the weak power of the new president Berdymuhammedov. Despite president’s repeated emphasis on improving access to the internet, and orders for all new buildings to be fitted with modern multimedia technology, with the internet to be available even in kindergartens, things have recently deteriorated, with more sites blocked than usual and service generally slower. Users found they were unable to access any of the popular Central Asian or foreign websites. As a result, ten or so new internet cafes opened around the country, but few people used them as they cost a lot by local standards, and ID has to be shown to use them. One of these issues is being addressed – from May 1, the hourly fee was cut from 60 to 30 manats (from five to 2.5 US dollars). In late March, Turkmenistan was branded an enemy of the internet by the international watchdog Reporters Without Borders. Source: IWPR, 05/08/08 Link to article:http://www.iwpr.net/?p=btm&s=b&o=344529&apc_state=henb

Mobile operator NEO and Kazkommertsbank announced launching of SMS-Banking service in Kazakhstan. The clients of NEO will be able to check their account balance at Kazkommertsbank through special account-cards using a mobile phone. SMS-Banking includes two services: 1) Active Service and 2) SMS-alert + Active Services. The service will allow the clients to control the money transactions through their account-cards at anytime, regardless of their location, sending requests and receiving sms-messages to their mobile phones. In addition the 'Active Service' plan allows the users to block the card in case of its loss/theft or unsanctioned access to the account-card. The second plan also includes an option to receive information about all transactions in an automated mode. Similar service was offered by Hamkorbank in Uzbekistan earlier this month. Today, Hamkorbank offers several plans using ICT for its clients: Internet-banking, E-mail-banking. Last year there were 60 users of these services; the number reached 550 in 2008. Source: Computer Club, 05/08/2008. Link to article: http://www.ccm.kz/

Youth Media Training workshop on covering youth issues with focus on healthy lifestyle promotion is held on 29-30 April in Tashkent. This training event is part of "Creating Youth TV Stations" project to train the participants from all provinces of Uzbekistan, the Republic of Karakalpakstan and Tashkent City on covering youth-related issues such issues as reproductive health, healthy lifestyle, gender equality, HIV/AIDS prevention and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), through TV programs on local television stations. The agenda of a two-day workshop includes theoretical information, discussions and brainstorming sessions during the first day and practical exercises on developing short TV segments on assigned topics within 15 teams during the second day.This activity is organized by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), National Association of Electronic Mass Media (NAESMI), NAESMI Public Fund, Kelajak Ovozi Youth Initiatives Centre and Kamolot Public Youth Movement.Source: UzReport. Link to article: http://news.uzreport.com/uzb.cgi?lan=e&id=45407