Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, July 12 / Trend H. Hasanov /
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has approved the transport and communications development programme in the country during 2012-2016, an official Turkmen source said today.
The document was adopted to accelerate the development of transport and communications and to improve providing the population with qualitative transport and communication services and the further industrial modernisation.
Turkmenistan is implementing several international projects in the transport industry. In particular the North-South railway project is being built with the participation of Kazakhstan and Iran. A large scale reconstruction of the Turkmenbashi sea port city on the Caspian Sea is being prepared. The national airline is buying aircraft in the U.S. and plans to open new routes to Asia and Europe.
The Turkmen Communication Ministry is a monopolist in rendering telecommunication services. State-owned companies operating under the ministry oversee telephone and mobile communication as well as Internet and cable TV services to the population.
Certain changes may occur in this area. In particular, President Berdimuhamedov has instructed the transfer of the scope of mobile services be put into private hands, as well as privatising the national operator Altin Asir (TM CELL). This would enable competition, as well as to systematically expand the volume and increase the quality of the services rendered to the population, especially the high-speed Internet communication system.
Joint ventures with a certain share of foreign capital are expected to be established. It was reported that negotiations are underway with the Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) from the UAE which is one of the largest mobile operators in the world with over 100 million subscribers. The company operates communication services in almost 20 countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.