Accessible Internet in Uzbekistan: is it real?

In modern globalization processes, information transmitted through telecommunications is one of the most important factors in the development of society. It has become a powerful tool for ensuring relations between people. Therefore, the requirements of public authorities and administration, as well as the society in general, are increasing hourly in terms of speed and quality of information transfer. An analytical review of the work done in this direction in recent years confirms that positive results are being achieved in this direction. The Decree of the President of our country № 6079 "On approval of the Strategy "Digital Uzbekistan-2030" and measures for its effective implementation" and the gradual implementation of work based on the principle of "In the name of honor and dignity of man" is one of the main tasks facing the enterprises of every sphere.

The national operator UZTELECOM has also launched providing memorable numbers with the new operator code +998 77.

It should be noted that Uzbektelecom has also been improving its international communication services. Special international roaming packages have been launched for Umrah and Hajj pilgrims.

Subscribers will be able to use mobile communication services in roaming 4-6 times cheaper by activating special packages that include Internet traffic and minutes. Moreover, by activating new packages with Internet traffic only, subscribers will be able to use Internet services with up to 8 times cheaper compared to standard rates.

In addition, it should be noted that in accordance with the UN report of the International Telecommunication Union for the year 2021, Uzbekistan was among the four countries, which met UN targets for 2% affordability of mobile broadband internet.

Marco Mantovanelli, World Bank Country Manager for Uzbekistan, said this in his speech at an international roundtable on "Inclusive Digitalization and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) in Uzbekistan".

"Uzbekistan met the UN Broadband Commission's two per cent target for Internet accessibility last year and is among four new entrants (countries) to meet this target," said Marco Mantovanelli.

Digital development plays an important role in Uzbekistan's economic growth and job creation. The government has put digital transformation at the top of its strategic agenda. Many programmers have been developed, including the Digital Uzbekistan2030 Strategy and the New Uzbekistan Development Strategy 2022-2026.

Also, It was noted that about 600,000 new job seekers competed for more than 200,000 jobs in the country, and today the government is implementing measures and achieving new indicators in issues of creating decent jobs for young people, strengthening their digital skills, increasing the number of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services, creating remote jobs in Uzbekistan, especially in rural areas.

Today, as in the countries of the world, the demand for the use of information and communication technologies, including the Internet, is increasing in our country.

This ensures timely implementation of tasks defined in the strategy "Digital Uzbekistan - 2030" approved on the basis of the relevant decree of the President of our Republic.

It is worth noting that the Uzbektelecom Joint-Stock Company is working systematically in this direction, in particular, to improve the level of provision of high-quality communications services and high-speed Internet to the population.

In particular, this year construction of modern fiber-optic communication lines across the territory of our country is continued, and the main attention in these activities, which are now being implemented in stages, is paid to remote regions.

For example, in the first half of 2022, more than 23,000 km of fibre-optic communication lines were built across the country as a result of the works carried out in accordance with the annual plan.

Thanks to this, telecommunication services are improved even in remote areas of our country. The works have been carried out with a special focus on boosting the quality of communication services and the speed of internet. The result of this work is reflected in the results of Speedtest Global Index rating (www.speedtest.net) at the end of May this year.

That is, Uzbekistan ranked 86th out of 182 countries in terms of download speed for wired internet resources - at 40.16Mbps, ahead of Armenia, neighboring Kazakhstan, Turkey and Azerbaijan.

In addition, another ranking - according to Cable.co.uk, a UK-based portal, Uzbekistan ranks 21st globally for mobile internet costs and 19th for broadband wired internet services.

In addition, according to the UN International Telecommunication Union's 2021 report, Uzbekistan ranked well among the four countries that have met the UN's 2% mobile broadband price target.

It was said in the briefing that this would serve to improve Uzbekistan's position in the international ranking.