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Kyrgyzstan
Telecommunications
Telecommunications in Kyrgyzstan, generally inadequate, suffer
from the historically low priority accorded by Soviet authorities
to development of that type of infrastructure. In 1994 only 364,000
main telephone lines, or one per twelve Kyrgyzstanis, were in
service. Since independence a thriving black market has developed
in cable stolen from existing telephone installations, removing
many portions of the telephone system from operation. The average
age of system components is about fifteen years. Because much
existing equipment is operating at capacity, heavier service loads
(which experts judge an absolutely necessary element of economic
expansion) require large-scale equipment replacement. In 1991
about 600 lines connected Kyrgyzstan to the rest of the Soviet
Union; sixty channels connected the republic to international
lines via Moscow. In 1995 international calls still were connected
through Moscow, allowing Kyrgyzstan to benefit indirectly from
the general upgrading of services that has occurred in Russia
in the early 1990s. In 1994 Kyrgyzstan received a loan of US$8
million and US$1.5 million in technical assistance from the European
Bank for Recovery and Development (EBRD) to upgrade its telecommunications
services, especially in the mountainous regions. The Ministry
of Communications is responsible for local, national, and international
telephone, telex, telegraph, and data communications. The ministry
also is charged with postal services, radio and television broadcasting,
and management of subscriptions and deliveries of news publications.
Telecommunications, despite low tariffs, have been profitable
enough to operate independently of the state budget since 1986.
But without a revision of the tariff structure and institutional
and regulatory restructuring, the state of telecommunications
places a major constraint on the development of a market-oriented
economy.
Kyrgyzstan Radio and Kyrgyzstan Television are state broadcasting
companies. The two state-run national radio stations broadcast
some English and German programming. One commercial radio station
is in operation. In 1993 three hours of television programming
were available per day; Kyrgyzstan Television receives its color
broadcasts from the Secam network.
Data as of March 1996
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