DUSHANBE, May 13, 2010, Asia-Plus — The Dushanbe administration has imposed restrictions but not ban on outdoor advertisements for cellular companies in the city, Shavkat Saidov, a spokesman for the Dushanbe mayor’s office, said.
According to him, Dushanbe Mayor Mahmadsaid Ubaidulloyev expressed concern about removal of mobile phone advertisements from billboards across the city.
“There was no question of removal of advertisements for cellular companies across the whole city,” said the spokesman, “We are just carrying out work on regulating activity on placing advertisements within the country’s legislation and preventing monopoly in this sphere. The placement of advertisements in Dushanbe should not be spontaneous”
We will recall that campaign on the removal of mobile phone advertisements from billboards in Dushanbe began on May 4. However, the Dushanbe authorities began to restore the dismantled billboards already on May 7 and 8.
Ghaffuor Erkayev, the head of the Association of Tajik Mobile Communication Companies, told Asia-Plus that the country’s authorities had realized their mistake and put the situation right. “Reaction of society and media have played an important role and made authorities think about their mistake,” Erkayev said.
According to him, any cellular company operating in Tajikistan has appropriate licenses, including licenses for placing ads and installing base stations. “All cellular operators functioning in the country fulfill their obligations precisely and clearly,” he noted, adding that although advertisements for tobacco and alcohol are illegal in Tajikistan, there is no ban on mobile phone advertisements.
