Tajikistan Communication Profile 2012

Telecoms, Mobile & Internet
Tajikistan's telecommunications infrastructure was arguably the least developed of all the former Soviet republics. With a telecom network that was near total collapse, the government has had the daunting task of bringing it up to modern standards.

Apart from its outmoded and poorly maintained infrastructure, a succession of natural disasters causing damage to plant and equipment resulted in a large portion of the network being rendered useless. During the mid-1990s the government announced its National Program of Communications Development, which was aimed particularly at the modernisation and development of communications throughout the country.

Specifically it included plans to privatise communications, broadcasting and television to attract foreign investors, although the state was expected to remain a major shareholder. The ambitious plan began to be implemented within the context of a traditional regulatory and operating structure. The Ministry of Communications (MOC) was made responsible for providing all public communications, including local, national and international telephone services, as well as postal services, TV and radio broadcasting. As part of a long term program, the MOC aimed to build a national communications system to world standards. The government also laid out plans to ultimately transfer all responsibilities from the MOC to a new independent regulatory authority. The government indicated there would be a transition period leading up to privatisation in 2004 and liberalisation of the local and international long-distance switched telephony sector in 2006.

As part of the privatisation strategy, a substantial number of private operators have been allowed to enter the telecom market since 1996, notably in the mobile and Internet sectors. In fact, telecommunications has become one of the most dynamically developing sectors within the Tajikistan economy. Although still inadequate, its contribution to the county's GDP has been actively growing, as new and diversified technologies were quickly becoming the norm. In 2005, Tajikistan began trial introduction of a number of advanced wireless networks, including 3G and NGNs.

The market continued to be dominated by the state-owned incumbent operator, Tajiktelecom, which has been providing local, long-distance and international telephone services throughout the country. In addition, more than six mobile operators and around 12 ISPs had been licensed. A new regulatory authority, the Communications Regulatory Agency (CRA), was created in 2005. Despite the almost exponential growth in Tajikistan's mobile sector over a number of years, overall the telecom market remained rudimentary. With one of the lowest fixed-line and mobile penetrations in the region in early 2006, total teledensity was estimated at around 10%. Three years later however, the total teledensity had surged to just over 55%.

Of course, this was on the back of a booming mobile market where penetration had crossed the 50% mark. In the meantime, fixed-line numbers remained virtually static over this period and penetration stood at just over 5% by early 2009.

Key highlights: By early 2009 mobiles in Tajikistan had passed the 50% penetration milestone, with subscriber numbers having increased tenfold in a little over three years;

• After very strong growth over the 2006-2008 period, the country's mobile subscriber base was still expanding at an annual rate of more than 40% in 2009
• Four mobile operators had been granted 3G licenses and subsequently launched networks
• by early 2009 the total 3G subscriber base in Tajikistan was approaching 100,000
• Fixed-line penetration in Tajikistan has reached 5%; however, the fixed-line market remained sluggish with almost no growth
• Although up to date official figures were not available, by 2009 the conversion of the country's fixed network from analogue appeared to have achieved a digital level of more than 90%, well on the way to achieving the 100% target
• Tajikistan's Internet usage has been expanding quickly, with reports suggesting Internet user penetration of about 10% by mid-2009
• However, the actual number of Internet subscribers remained relatively low (estimated penetration of around 0.1%)
• Broadband Internet access was virtually non-existent.