On 8 February, the very next day after President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov had called on government officials to make the Internet more accessible for residents, the only Internet provider in Turkmenistan “Turkmentelecom” reduced the rates for its unlimited monthly Internet plan.
Residents of Ashgabat welcomed the good news after such a long time and lined up at the provider’s offices to change their Internet plans.
However, a few days later subscribers started complaining about interrupted and noticeably lower connection speeds.Those who have switched from plans with a connection speed from 512Кbit/s to 2 Mbit/s claim the speed is even lower.
It almost never reaches the claimed figures.The Internet connection is consistently stable in the morning but by lunchtime the connection speed drops noticeably and in the evening, when many users try to log in to the Internet simultaneously, the connection speed drops to 25-40 Кbit/s.
Gamers complain that in online games a ping (the time needed to be transmitted from a user’s device to a server on the Internet) has increased from 60-70 ms to 260-290, making it impossible to play. It appears that “Turkmentelecom” networks are unable to cope with the increased load.
“Chronicles of Turkmenistan” has looked into the situation regarding the Internet access in Turkmenistan by interviewing our correspondents and residents of different age groups.
Cable Internet access
The majority of city residents use the Internet. According to those interviewed by “Chronicles of Turkmenistan”, 60% of city residents log into the Internet regularly. In rural areas this number is lower due to high rates for rural residents and the underdeveloped infrastructure.
Active Internet users subscribe to unlimited data packages via the sole provider “Turkmentelecom”.Many complain about the extremely low connection speed, which is 2 Mbit/s for the most expensive and fastest plan.
It should be emphasized that in technologically advanced countries the minimum connection speed offered is 40 to 50 Mbit/s.
The low connection speed is most likely because of the use of outdated technologies. “Turkmentelecom” clients log on to the Internet using ADSL technology which utilizes existing dial-up lines.
In case a relatively modern network is available, the speed of 20 Mbit/s can be reached but it does not normally exceed 8-10 Mbit/s even in developed countries.
Elsewhere ADSL has gradually been replaced with Ethernet cable with a connection speed up to 100 Mbit/s since the late 2000-s.Fibre-optic lines with a connection speed of 500Mbit/s and even 1G/s are being widely used.
“Turkmentelecom” offers Ethernet connections but only for residents of some elite apartment blocks in Ashgabat. It should be mentioned that the plan envisages the same price and connection speed.
Rural residents did not have a chance to subscribe to the unlimited data plan until last week. They are currently being offered Internet plans with unlimited traffic and the speed of 256 and 512 Кbit/s at 50 and 100 manats respectively.
Before the price reduction the most popular plan in urban areas was the 512 Kibt/s package with a monthly subscription fee of 150 manats. Many subscribers are currently switching to the plan with a connection speed of 2 Mbit/s, which is now four times faster but is only 25% more expensive.
Neighbours frequently chip in and share one Wi-Fi hot spot for two apartments.
Mobile Internet
Turkmenistan’s residents are also provided with an opportunity to have Internet access via a mobile operator “Altyn Asyr”. According to those interviewed by “Chronicles of Turkmenistan”, because of the expensive rates mobile Internet is used only in case of emergency.
The provider does not offer any unlimited data plans. It only provides the biggest traffic volume of 2 Gbytes included in the 50 manat monthly plan Internet 50. In cases when Internet remains connected, then the plan only lasts for less than a month even if used efficiently.
The additional volume of Internet traffic is available but the majority of those interviewed by “Chronicles of Turkmenistan” cannot afford the rates. For instance, an additional 10 Gbytes (needed to download a film in a FullHD resolution) costs 350 manats, a quarter of an average monthly salary.
The most popular plan Sowgat 1000+ for 25 manats a month includes 1000 minutes of telephone conversations, 300 text messages and 500 Mbytes of Internet traffic. However, many subscribers prefer the more affordable monthly plan Sowgat 500 at 16 manats, which includes 150 Mbytes of Internet traffic.
Public Wi-Fi hotspots
Other than cable Internet access, “Turkmentelecom” offers access through Wi-Fi hotspots installed in public places such as bazaars, airports, shopping centres and parks.
A monthly subscription for Turkmen residents is available at 150 manats.This option is not popular with residents because cable Internet can be installed for the same price.
Many believe that this option is designed primarily for international visitors but whom other rates are offered – for instance, one day of public WI-FI spot usage will cost $20; $100 will be charged for a week.
Сensorship and blocking
Arbitrary Internet censorship is a major problem for Internet users. Turkmenistan blocks all foreign news outlets, human rights resources devoted to Turkmenistan, international websites criticizing the authorities and all social networks as well as messengers except IMO, which is not popular worldwide.
There are several theories why this messenger is still accessible in Turkmenistan.Many believe that this is how the Turkmen authorities try to get access to users’ correspondence despite assurances of the messenger’s designers that the application ensures end-to-end encryption and third parties have no access to data.
According to another version, government officials whose children or relatives live or study abroad need at least some communication channel with them.Several years ago a popular Line messenger was used, but its functionality envisaged customization in the form of a social network, which could have been used to disseminate “unwanted” information.
Eventually, the application was blocked.
Together with “obvious” resources, for reasons which are not clear the Turkmen authorities also cut off access to other several other websites, which are in no way related to the dissemination of “dangerous” information. This negatively affects those who do business, study or work online as freelancers.
Designers claim that they have no direct access to 90% of resources which they use for work because these websites or cloud storages with downloaded files are all blocked.
Software developers have no access to GitHub website, a major provider of Internet hosting for software development.
University students who have switched to long-distance learning because of COVID-19 complain not only about blocked information resources, which they need for study, but also about disrupted connections, which might result in failing an exam.
It should be mentioned that there is no public register listing banned resources whereas the official authorities claim that there is no Internet censorship in the country. Web resources are blocked arbitrarily, without court orders, warnings or explanations provided to website owners.
Internet censorship circumvention tools
All-inclusive Internet restrictions which prevent users from access to basic information and keeping in touch with family and friends abroad via social media and messengers have resulted in the huge popularity of various tools used to bypass the Turkmen firewall.
The overwhelming majority of Turkmen residents use VPN-applications.Young people use them to log onto social networks, children have them to watch cartoons on Youtube and the elderly use VPN to keep in touch with family and friends abroad.
It is quite easy to find a specialist to install a VPN application.Everybody knows somebody providing this service, which costs approximately 80 manats.These services are even now being offered even online, via IMO or email with step-by-step instructions.
Payment is accepted by a mobile phone or in cash via common acquaintances.If one server is blocked, experts immediately find an alternative.
Pursuant to verbal instructions of high-ranking police and NSM officers, raids are occasionally conducted against VPN specialists, but these do not last long. A few weeks later the situation stabilizes and VPN services resume in a low profile mode.
Turkmen web technologies
Over the past few years under guise of digitalization Turkmen authorities have been active in setting up some digital systems in governance and economy.Thus far these attempts have led to several websites of ministries, agencies, markets, educational and other establishments, many of which contain just a few pages, are not updated or even operational.
In December 2020 the email “Sanly.tm” service designed by local developers, tmchat messenger and the government service portal e.gov.tm. were presented to President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov.
Of those interviewed by correspondents of “Chronicles of Turkmenistan” nobody was aware of these services.When asked whether they would like to try them, all of them declined.
People believe they are useless and, based on their previous experience, are convinced that these products are not be viable and have only been set up as showcases to high-ranking authorities.
The messenger tmchat, launched on 5 December, 2020, has been downloaded only 5,000 based on public data in Google Play.
To date it has been rated 2,5 out of 5 based on 159 reviews.The most popular review claims that the ready template used for the application was presented as a Turkmenistan-developed product.
Users can register in the messenger only if they have a Turkmen mobile telephone number from the Turkmen provider “Altyn Asyr”.The application was last updated on 28 November 2020, i.e.
before its official release.The description of the application contains outdated information that the public registration will be launched on 5 December, 2020.This is on obvious sign that further development of the messenger was suspended.
The email service Sanly is based on the Russian application Samoware.It is used by companies to set up internal email and a messenger exchange server, according to the cover page of the service which developers omitted to edit.
In other words, the email service is not even a Turkmen product.It should be emphasized that on order to register the Turkmen telephone number is required to which the access code will be sent.
The only government services portal e.gov.tm is a replica of the Russian portal, which was simply copy-pasted including the icons.
We have been unable to assess its performance because registration is accessible to Turkmen residents only.In Russia this service is very popular but correspondents of “Chronicles of Turkmenistan” have failed to find any of the portal’s users in Turkmenistan.The post The Internet in Turkmenistan: outdated technologies, arbitrary censorship and showcase products first appeared on Chronicles of Turkmenistan.