Image by Flickr user Daniel Broche (CC-usage).

Editor’s note: This is the latest post in neweurasia’s ongoing coverage of the rise of the “Turkmenet”, the online community in the Turkmen language, as well as third on the rise of the mobile internet across Central Asia.  Check out Annasoltan’s previous post on the mobile internet in Turkmenistan and Pravdin’s post on the mobile internet in Uzbekistan.

It’s a simple rule of capitalist economics: the more customers there are, the better services become.  Not so in Turkmenistan.

The Russian company Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), the largest mobile phone operator in Russia and the CIS, dominates the cellular market here.  The company has been bragging about the expansion of its customer base in Turkmenistan.  Meanwhile, customers are complaining that service is getting more expensive.

Indeed, according to a World Bank chart, while the cost of Internet services has fallen between 2003 and 2006 in countries where it is widely used, in Turkmenistan it has been rising in the same period.

You ask: why is this news?  Because it actually could affect the development of civil society in Turkmenistan.

The Golden Age

Other than MTS, cellular communications of GSM standard in Turkmenistan are provided by the national operator Altyn Asyr (Golden Age), a subsidiary of the state-owned communications company Turkmen Telecom.  Altyn Asyr is cheaper than MTS, but it lags behind with outdated hardware and a lack of qualified technicians, and it also has a complicated registration process for private citizens.

It’s odd that the Turkmenistan government would allow the national telecom to effectively rot.  After all, this is a nation known for egregious acts of patriotism.  But Nurmuhammed Hanamov, a former ambassador of Turkmenistan to Turkey and Israel and currently one of the leaders of the Turkmen opposition in exile, tells me that corporate culture is one factor:

Altyn Asyr is a state-owned company that works according to the old Soviet system. Once the price has been set it remains as it is. Changing the price is very difficult, creating problems, because Altyn Asyr does not go by market economy rules. Whereas, it’s rival MTS is quick to adopt what the company sees as good for  business. The users have only a choice between the two and they take what works better for them, in that case MTS.

Meanwhile, there are also political pressures.  A Turkmen information technology operator, speaking on conditions of anonymity, tells me me that political issues are another factor:

MTS faces a great deal of pressure from the Turkmen government. They are supposed to pay for everything. Even though Altyn Asyr does not face that pressure from the government because it is a state-owned company, Altyn Asyr programmers and specialists don’t even think of making progress. With the most incomes going to state accounts, their income is rather low. MTS derives its strength from its experience with technology on the Russian market and has a pool of specialists”, says an Turkmen young IT operator on condition of anonymity.

Life in the monopol-e

But there are other practical issues.  First and foremost, mobile telephony is simply out of reach for the average Turkmen, whose monthly salary hardly exceeds $ 150.  People need to eat before they can chat on the phone or browse the internet.

Second, it’s necessary to dial several times until a connection is finally set up.  Bahtiyar, a graduate student from Turkey, remarks,

Altyn Asyr charges money for incoming calls, while MTS does not. The national company’s antenna reach does not cover remote areas of the cities as well as sites outside of the main provinces.

And third, Turkmenistan still has a long way to go before private entities other than MTS become internet providers. So, overall, mobile users find that there is much room for improvement but little recourse other than to MTS.

Maksat, a resident of Ashgabat, has this to say about MTS:

I have a love and hate relationship with MTS.  I love it because there’s nothing better like that, but I hate it because it eats away my money.  True, there are now various monthly packages offered for the internet. A 20 mb package can cost approximately $ 4 while a 1 gb package can cost $ 35.  But if I don’t use the whole of it, all my money gets lost at the end of the month and I have to buy it anew.

The slow speed of the internet can be very exhausting.  Bahtiyar remarks,

I don’t know whether this is a blessing or a condemnation. When I’m back in Turkmenistan, I spend half an hour every day trying to access a page.  Some heavy pages with large images never open. Just checking the e-mail and sending three or four letters may take one hour.

Some critical or controversial sites are blocked while others are available. The attempt to access internet can actually be a reason for being cut off.  Farid Tuhbatullin, the head of the Vienna-based Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights, says,

Many prefer not to access [such websites] because the authorities have the means to monitor which pages are being visited.

Freedom House’s 2008 Country Report states that despite modest improvements in Internet access and mobile telephony, a substantive improvement in information liberalization is unlikely without changes in censorship policy.

All in all, then, although it seems Turkmenistan is definitely taking a great leap forward into the Information Age, it has a long struggle ahead to become truly and fully wired.