Tajikistan routinely ranks toward the bottom of international standings in terms of Internet speed and prices offered by Internet service providers (ISPs).
Mobile Internet
As of December 2022, the Speedtest Global Index ranks Tajikistan 137th among 141 nations in terms of mobile Internet speed. There are only Ghana, Venezuela, Cuba and Afghanistan below it. Among Central Asia’s nations, Tajikistan stands in the last place, not counting Turkmenistan (no data available for this country).
Everything is also bad at the cost of mobile Internet. Worldwide Mobile Data Pricing 2022 ranks Tajikistan (1GB of mobile data in Tajikistan costs on average US$1.94).
As far as other Central Asia’s are concerned, Kyrgyzstan comes in at 6th in the world, with 1GB of mobile data costing an average of US$0.17, Uzbekistan ranks 15th (US$0.37 per 1GB), and Kazakhstan ranks 16th (US$0.37 per 1GB).
Even Afghanistan comes 65th in the world, with 1GB of mobile data costing an average of US$0.90.
Turkmenistan reportedly has the most expensive mobile Internet in the world, with 1 GB costing an average of US$14.27.
Cable Internet
In terms of cable (broadband) Internet speed Tajikistan ranks 118th among 178 nations. Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan rank 83rd, 89th and 96th, respectively.
Turkmenistan and Afghanistan ranks 176th and 177th, respectively.
Tajikistan stands in fourth place among the Central Asian countries in terms of cable Internet speed.
Since February 1, mobile internet service providers have reportedly been sending SMSs to their customers to inform them that connection speeds are poised to increase dramatically.
One company, Babilon-Mobile, has said that customers paying for a contract providing them with speeds of 512 kilobits per second, for example, will soon be upgraded to 1 megabit per second.
Another company, Tcell, is slashing the prices for its internet packages. Where a 1-gigabyte data package used to cost the equivalent of around US$3.00, the rate will now be closer to US$1.70. A 20-gigabyte package will set customers back by around $11.50.
Megafon Tajikistan reportedly offers 20 gigabytes for just under US$9.00.
A source at one mobile telecommunications company told Eurasianet on condition of anonymity that they and industry peers got the word to act after President Emomali Rahmon experienced trouble staying online during last month’s Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) virtual summit
“During the meeting, his connection dropped out about seven to 10 times. The president was angered by the quality of the internet and reprimanded the head of the communications service agency,” the source told Eurasianet.
During an address to a joint meeting of both chambers of parliament, Rahmon on December 23 drew a direct correlation between the difficulty of getting online and the sad state of the tourism industry.
“Basically, where do tourists go?” he asked. “Where there is good internet.”
“We need to rethink the culture of using mobile phones,” said the head of state. “There is no need to rejoice at this. In the future there may be serious problems as a result, and people will succumb to various diseases, such as brain cancer.”
Rahmon also expressed dissatisfaction with how much people were spending on their phones.
