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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Turkmenistan
Index
Turkmenistan has a main Caspian Sea port at Turkmenbashy and a shipping
line running from that port to Astrakhan in the Russian Federation on the
north shore of the Caspian. However, the majority of freight is shipped
from Turkmenbashy to Baku on the western shore of the Caspian. Other ports
are Alaja, Okarem, and Chekelen, all of which were slated for
reconstruction in the mid-1990s. In 1993 Turkmenistan bought two ships
from Slovakia to use for export from the port at Sukhumi in Georgia. They
are currently stationed at Novorossiysk on the Black Sea coast.
Telecommunications
Turkmenistan's Ministry of Communications is the sole supplier of
telecommunications services in Turkmenistan; the ministry also operates
the postal and special delivery services and the delivery of press
publications. Because of very low state-fixed rates, the ministry's budget
is inadequate to perform all these services adequately.
There are two television broadcasting centers, the Orbita satellite
station in Ashgabat and a second one in Nebitdag. The State Committee for
Television and Radio Broadcasting is responsible for both. Through Orbita
and Intelsat satellite transmissions, broadcasts reach all cities and
rural centers. Broadcasting centers are linked by landline or microwave to
other CIS states and Iran. Since 1992, the republic has received daily
transmissions from Turkey.
Turkmenistan experiences many problems concerning communications
technology. The telephone network is poorly developed. Only 28 percent of
households have a telephone, and 550 villages lacked telephone service
entirely in 1994. More than one-third of all subscribers use telephone
exchanges that are thirty to forty years old and highly depreciated.
Between 1986 and 1991, the number of telephones per 1,000 outlet accesses
increased from 61 to 75, which represents 140 for urban and 22 for rural
citizens. In 1994 there were eight main telephone lines per 100
inhabitants.
The Turkish government, working through the private Netas company of
Turkey, began upgrading Turkmenistan's phone system in the early 1990s.
The first electronic exchange was installed in Ashgabat. Implementation of
the Intelsat IBS earth station, which will provide international circuit
capacity via Ankara, is expected to improve the operation of local,
long-distance, and international networks in the republic. Two telex
networks provide telex and telegraph services. Only twenty international
subscribers are linked via Moscow, and a few other specialized networks
exist.
Data as of March 1996
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