ASHGABAT (Trend) — The Ministry of Communications of Turkmenistan has launched a large-scale project entitled Development of telecommunication networks of Turkmenistan, financed by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) which will grant a credit line of $273 mln. IDB finances major telecommunications project in Turkmenistan.

According to IDB, the objective is to contribute to the economic growth of the country through developing the Turkmenistan telecommunication system. It includes installing technologies enablers into the network operators to offer users a wider range of more advanced services while achieving greater network capacity through improved spectral efficiency.

The priority direction of the project is development of mobile communication. Given the growing demands of the population, the national mobile operator Altyn Asyr will provide 100% coverage of the country with this type of communication, including 3G, 4G, and also 5G-Internet in the near future, and will provide other services. To this end, more than 600 units of basic equipment will be purchased.

More than 120 units of 4G base stations will be installed in the capital, which will increase the existing capacity of the network of this standard by about half.

Particular attention is paid to the development of wired telephony that supports the standards of the new generation — NGN (Next Generation Network) and multi-service platforms IMS (IP multimedia subsystem), when the telephony, the IP-TV and internet will be supplied from one telephone point. It is planned to build about 550 telephone stations in the country based on NGN-solutions, which have high efficiency with large volumes of traffic, low operating costs, a wide range of communication services, high data transfer rate. The project also provides for the replacement of obsolete digital stations in the capital.

Instead, a single IMS platform with a capacity spread of more than 80,000 numbers will be installed. In the IMS network, subscribers will have a single set of services for fixed and mobile devices and a single number for different applications.

It is planned to install multi-service billing platforms, automated systems of payment for the rendered communication services for the communication operators Turkmentelecom and Ashgabat City Telephone Network. With their help, it will be possible to pay not only internet fees, communication services, IP-telephony, but also utility bills, traffic fines.

The new system is designed for one million subscribers. It is planned to implement modernization of the international and long-distance telephone exchange in Ashgabat.

One of the most important directions of development of communication networks in Turkmenistan is the transition to IP-protocols in the transmission of all types of traffic, elimination of necessity of use of two ports of subscriber capacity for provision of telephony services and online access at higher speeds, possibility of video conferencing and conference calling.

The project also includes the expansion of FM radio broadcasting, especially in rural areas. It is considered to establish a State automated system of management, monitoring and supervision of the use of the radio frequency spectrum in order to conduct high-level technical supervision in Ashgabat and regional centres - Balkanabat, Dashoguz, Turkmenabat, Mary and Turkmenbashi.