Turkmenistan Communications 2021, CIA World Factbook

total subscriptions: 648,223

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 11.85 (2019 est.)

Telephones - mobile cellular

total subscriptions: 8,908,821

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 162.86 (2019 est.)

Telecommunication systems

general assessment:

stagnant economy, rural geography, and authoritarian rule limit development of the telecom sector; in cooperation with Russian-based partners, operators have installed high-speed fiber-optic lines and upgraded most of the country's telephone switch centers with digital technology; some rural areas lack fixed-line coverage; mobile broadband is in the early stages of development; services are extremely slow, though Trans-Caspian cable will provide international Internet capacity and improvement in services; freedom of press and expression restricted through monitoring, media interruption, and removal of receivers from households; importer of broadcasting equipment from UAE (2021)

(2020)

domestic: fixed-line 12 per 100 and mobile-cellular teledensity is about 163 per 100 persons; first telecommunication satellite was launched in 2015 (2019)

international: country code - 993; linked by fiber-optic cable and microwave radio relay to other CIS republics and to other countries by leased connections to the Moscow international gateway switch; an exchange in Ashgabat switches international traffic through Turkey via Intelsat; satellite earth stations - 1 Orbita and 1 Intelsat (2018)

note: the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally; since 2020, some aspects of the telecom sector have experienced downturn, particularly in mobile device production; many network operators delayed upgrades to infrastructure; progress towards 5G implementation was postponed or slowed in some countries; consumer spending on telecom services and devices was affected by large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes; the crucial nature of telecom services as a tool for work and school from home became evident, and received some support from governments

Broadcast media

broadcast media is government controlled and censored; 7 state-owned TV and 4 state-owned radio networks; satellite dishes and programming provide an alternative to the state-run media; officials sometimes limit access to satellite TV by removing satellite dishes

Internet country code

.tm

Internet users

total: 1,149,840

percent of population: 21.25% (July 2018 est.)

Broadband - fixed subscriptions

total: 4,000

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: less than 1 (2017 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Turkmenistan on this page is re-published from the 2021 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Turkmenistan 2021 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Turkmenistan 2021 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.