Turkmenistan Communication Profile 2012

Turkmenistan  had certainly not been easy during the period 2008/09 that mobile operators have felt the effects of the global financial crisis on their income. The monthly ARPU recorded by the BCT in the country  has declined by over 70% to less than € 10 by the fourth quarter of 2008. 

The growth of the Internet sector was severely suppressed in 2000 when the four existing independent ISPs have been forced into bankruptcy because of the government's decision to grant a monopoly on Turkmen Telecom data services. The sudden closure of the FAI was consistent with government policy, which requires tight control over all communications in the country. Internet access continued to be strictly regulated, and Internet cafes that existed a few were closed in Ashgabat in 2002.

After two decades of repression, the new president, Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov, announced in early 2007 that the government had opened Internet cafes in the capital Ashgabat and was set to follow this movement in the regional centers. One hour costing about U.S. $ 4, however, a high price in a country where two thirds of the population live below the poverty line and the average monthly income was below U.S. $ 100. It was not immediately clear to what extent these reforms would go. In 2010, it was clear that the new president has kept his promise to keep an open Internet cafes. There was still considerable restrictions on Internet use, however.