Category: Жаңылыктар

Interview about community network on “Suusamyr FM”

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November 23, 2018 after the launch of the project “Suusamyr net” and the start of connecting subscribers, a meeting with local residents was organized. During the conversation, they talked about the project, the advantages and importance of high-speed Internet. The audience needed to provide ip TV, as there were no entertainment and sports channels, and they received many proposals to improve the Internet environment. There were no more than twenty people, in order to reach more people community Radio “Suusamyr FM” invited representatives of our company – Talent Sultanov – Chairman of ISOC and Erzhigit Imamov – technical Manager of the project on the air. During the broadcast Talant and Erzhigit shared with the audience the immediate plans of this initiative. The broadcast was exciting and productive and solved the issue of audience coverage of Suusamyr.

 

 

Launch of the Suusamyr Net Community Network

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On November 23, 2018, with the support of the Internet Society in the village of Suusamyr, Chui oblast, the project “Suusamyr Net” was launched.

This initiative aims to provide Internet access to residents of the Suusamyr Valley, expanding opportunities and increasing access to information.

In a mountainous country, more than half of the population lives far from big cities and modern technologies. Less than 40 percent of the country’s population has access to the Internet. Such a project allows realizing the idea of digital transformation of the country.

Internet Society began work on the promotion of the Internet in the remote villages of the country in 2017. A round table was held on the Internet connection in remote areas of Kyrgyzstan. This project is the first of its kind in Central Asia. Building a public Internet provider in the village of Suusamyr will also allow you to gain experience in connecting remote areas and help identify obstacles to creating public providers. The budget of the pilot project in Suusamyr is $ 35,000 provided by the Internet grant program of the Society “Beyond the Net”.

This pilot project consists of two phases:

1. Conducting the Internet in the village Suusamyr.
The optimal solution for the implementation of the first stage was the use of radio relay transmitters.
At a distance of 23 km from the village there is a connection point (gas station Gazprom) to the fiber-optic highway Elkat. Due to the lack of direct visibility, the radio bridge was built of two spans.
The first span from the gas station Gazprom to Tokiluu, distance 6km.
Second span from Tokiluu to Suusamyr 18km distance.
At the moment, it was possible to achieve a channel with 90 Mbps speed. In the future it is planned to double the width of the channel.

2. Construction of a network inside the village.
The Community Network infrastructure is based on GEPON technology. The main feature is high – connection speed, up to 1000 Mbps. Such a reserve of speed will allow to delay the need to upgrade equipment for many years, providing an extremely high level of services.

Local residents were involved in the construction of the network. So welders for metal welded fixtures on which wires were hung. Local electricians hung fiber optic cables on power poles. Several people were trained to work with a special welding machine for optical fiber and work with subscriber equipment.

Preliminary results of the project:
The use of modern technology has reduced the cost of the project. The involvement of local people in the creation of a community network has strengthened the future of the project.
So the subscriber connection is 4000 soms, which is equal to the cost of equipment and necessary work.
The monthly fee is 650 soms with a tariff of 5 Mbps for the first 50 subscribers. The network is capable of receiving up to 250 subscribers. With an increase in subscribers, the monthly subscription fee will significantly decrease, dividing all monthly network expenses equally among subscribers.

At the request of residents, it is also planned to introduce the possibility of connecting IP television with 100 channels, which will cost an additional 200 soms per month, and the purchase of a TV box for 2000 soms will be necessary.

After the successful launch of a Community Network in the village of Suusamyr, the project will be scaled to all regions of the country. This will include training of interested communities on the example of a pilot project, assistance in designing, building and launching Community Networks.

For more information on the project you can contact the coordinators:
Erzhigit Imamov responsible for the technical part of the project.
[email protected], +996779880422.
Isabek Asanbayev project coordinator [email protected], +996556552247.

Launch of the Internet Traffic Exchange Point of the Fergana Valley.

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The Public Association “Kyrgyz Chapter of the Internet Society” launches one of its first and most ambitious projects, the Internet Traffic Exchange Point of the Ferghana Valley.
The project was made possible by a grant from Beyond the Net, the Internet Society. The Ferghana Valley Internet Traffic Exchange Point Project (FVIXP) is the installation of an internet traffic exchange point (IXP) in the city of Osh, in southern Kyrgyzstan, which will significantly reduce the cost and speed up the Internet for all residents of the Fergana Valley.

The equipment of the Internet Traffic Exchange Point of the Fergana Valley is installed and works in Kyrgyztelecom Osh city. All Internet providers operating in the city of Osh can connect to the internet traffic exchange point. The first participant to join was UniLink LLC. Connecting to an Internet traffic exchange point allows you to establish peer-to-peer interaction between participants with lower costs and greater efficiency regarding the organization of pairwise physical joints. The effectiveness of IXP increases with the number of connected participants.
According to ITU 2014, Central Asia has one of the lowest Internet penetration levels in Europe and  Asia. In regional terms, Internet prices for residents of the Fergana Valley are higher than for residents of other administrative districts. For example, Internet tariffs in southern cities are 5 times higher (13USD) for the same capacity as in Bishkek, located in the north of Kyrgyzstan. Tajikistan, which primarily depends on Kyrgyzstan, has an even more serious situation. The national Internet service provider Tojnet provides an unlimited tariff of 1Mb for $ 45. The situation in Uzbekistan is even worse. Uzbekistan’s exclusive Internet provider provides Internet in cities located in the Fergana Valley, at a price of $ 59 for 10 GB of daily Internet and unlimited night traffic.
Considering the aforementioned situation, the Internet traffic exchange point in the valley will remove barriers to connection and will stimulate improved access.
Fergana Valley IXP (FVIXP) will adhere to the principles of openness and neutrality, ensuring equal access to infrastructure for all stakeholders, including government agencies, educational and health institutions, as well as commercial banks. IXP will help local small and medium-sized providers to reduce costs for traffic, and will allow you to spend more on infrastructure than on the purchase of Internet traffic.
There are two IXPs in the north of Kyrgyzstan. The old IXP is closed to new members and therefore new ISPs cannot join. The second IXP is open, but also located in the city of Bishkek.
In the case of line breaks due to farmers, communication is lost throughout the region. Subscribers cannot forward messages to each other. Millions of subscribers remain waiting for the repair of communication on the line.
Any message that is generated by users comes to the data exchange center in Bishkek and returns to Osh again. This is a millisecond, but not very logical and costly process. Thus, the lines between Bishkek and Osh become overloaded.
At the same time, many Bishkek Internet providers can not profit from developing the Internet infrastructure in the regions, including the southern regions.
FVIXP opens up possibilities for building a digital silk road. Taking into account the connection of the junction with China, new junctions with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, Osh is becoming a key city in the development of digital infrastructure.

Creating an IXP would greatly enhance the value of the regional economy. According to Terabit Consulting, “Improving ICT infrastructure produces: an increase in demand for products from other industries (demand multiplier), new production opportunities in other industries (supply multiplier), new products and services for consumers (final demand), increased innovative capabilities of firms and increase the likelihood of new products, innovations and organizations. “

Digital Libraries for schools

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Thanks to grants from the American Embassy in Kyrgyzstan and the Internet Society, the Public Association “Kyrgyz Branch of the Internet Society” starts the project “Bilim Bulagy”. Bilim Bulagy is a digital library for schools and public libraries containing Wikipedia in Kyrgyz, Russian and English, the Khan Academy, thousands of video lessons, audio and electronic books. All these digital learning materials are available offline, that is, without needing access to the Internet. Access to the Digital Libraries will be provided through smartphones, tablets, computers and any other personal devices with Wi-Fi technology.

Many schools in Kyrgyzstan annually experience a shortage of teachers and textbooks. As a result, thousands of children do not receive a proper quality education. In particular, there are not enough teachers of the exact sciences and the Russian language. As a result, Kyrgyz schoolchildren show poor knowledge of such fundamental skills like reading and computing. This is evidenced by the results of the PISA International Student Assessment, where students from Kyrgyzstan showed the worst results and finished last in 2006 and 2009.

Bilim Bulagy aims to provide opportunities for students to fill in missing knowledge on their own. Similarly, the lessons of the Khan Academy have the potential to help retarded students understand complex topics.
Over 6 million Wikipedia articles will be available for reading in three languages helping to develop curiosity in children.

Many digital learning materials are also available for download, thus allowing you to take a piece of the library with you. Download speed is very high, because it does not use the Internet, but only its internal network.

Bilim Bulagy will be implemented in 50 pilot schools and libraries in the country in 2019.

Learning by Doing: Have You Heard of the Suusamyr Community Network in Kyrgyzstan?

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Last week, the Internet Society together with our Kyrgyz chapter and the wider local community held discussions about Internet connectivity in remote areas in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Approximately 35% of the Kyrgyz population use the Internet (ITU data, 2017) and most users are located in cities and urban areas.

In cooperation with its Kyrgyz chapter, the Internet Society is piloting the community networks approach in the village of Suusamyr, located some 150 kilometers south of the capital city Bishkek. We had an opportunity to visit this village of about 4000 people, tucked away in a wide valley surrounded by high mountains. The economic activity revolves around farming, horse and cattle keeping, and tourism.

While the final phase of the Suusamyr community network is still under implementation, we can already draw some lessons learnt from the preparatory and testing phases.

Partnerships

As a starting point, the Internet Society Kyrgyz chapter consolidated a partnership with the government, Internet Service Providers (ISP), and the local community in Suusamyr. The Kyrgyz government saw the opportunity for local economic development. Two ISPs agreed to lease their existing backbone infrastructure to connect the last mile. And most importantly, the local community embraced this initiative with a hope that it will provide new opportunities for the people in the community. It is important to have the backing of the key stakeholders.

Licensing and permissions

As in most countries, building Internet infrastructure requires licenses and permissions. While it was relatively simple to get the network operator license, the rules for spectrum licenses in Kyrgyzstan involve costs and time-consuming application processes. Our project team partnered with a regional ISP to share their existing spectrum license. Permissions for land use and power supply for masts can also be complicated. Following discussions with landowners and the national electricity company, the permissions for the Suusamyr project were agreed on by a case-by-case basis. An enabling policy framework is necessary to make progress with connectivity in remote areas.

Demand generation

During our visit to Suusamyr, it was clear that there was enthusiasm and demand for the Internet within the local community. The largest school in Suusamyr had a computer lab, but no Internet connection. The municipality headquarters, the local hospital and small businesses would surely benefit, too. However, the municipality does not yet have concrete plans on how to use the Internet to boost local economic development. There is a need for a local “action group,” which could raise awareness and provide skills training amongst the village population.

The President of the Kyrgyz Republic has named 2018 a year of rural development. This ambition is perfectly aligned with the Internet Society’s goal to connect everyone to the Internet, with a focus on the communities in the hardest to reach places. We aim to have a fully operational community network in Suusamyr in a few months’ time.

By Maarit Palovirta

Senior Manager, Regional Affairs Europe

Ferghana Valley IXP

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ISOC Kyrgyz Chapter is implementing one of its first major projects thanks to Beyond the Net grant from ISOC. Ferghana Valley Internet Exchange Point (FVIXP) Project will install an IXP in Osh city in the south of Kyrgyzstan, which will result in a much cheaper internet for all the residents of Ferghana Valley.

Ferghana Valley located on crossroads of three countries is the most populated area in Central Asia, the source of regional inter-ethnic tensions due to water and land irrigation disputes, poverty and lack of access to communication services. Internet Exchange Point Project with location in Osh city (Kyrgyzstan) is aimed to increase regional cross-border collaboration between stakeholders and communication of people through increase of Internet affordability by lowering internet tariff plans up to 3 times, multiply growth of Internet traffic exchange in region, increase Internet penetration rate due to price reduction, and improve latency for international and regional content sources.

Ferghana Valley located at the crossroads of three countries of Central Asia: Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan are in top 10 regions with highest population density in the world. Over 14 million people (2014) reside in 22,000 square kilometers (approximately 636 persons per square km). The region is known for land and water disputes, inter-ethnic conflicts. There is a huge income disparity between administrative capitals of the Stans and regional dwelling communities in Ferghana Valley.

Central Asia has one of the lowest internet penetration rates per capita in Europe and Central Asian region, according to ITU 2014. One of the key regions that illustrate state of the regional digital divide is Ferghana Valley. In regional perspective Internet prices for Ferghana valley dwellers are higher than for residents of other administrative districts. For example, Internet tariff plans in southern cities are 5 times higher (13USD) for the same traffic bandwidth than that in Bishkek located in the North of Kyrgyzstan. Tajikistan, which primarily depends on Internet transit of Russian content from Kyrgyzstan, has an even more severe situation. National ISP Tojnet provides 1Mb unlimited tariff for as low as 45USD. The situation in Uzbekistan is even worse. Uzbekistan ISP monopoly company provides Internet in cities located in Ferghana valley for the price of 59USD for 10GB of the daily Internet and unlimited night traffic.

Considering above mentioned situation we believe establishing Internet Exchange Point in the valley will alleviate the digital divide between the north and south of Kyrgyzstan as well as between the bordering countries by removing barriers for connectivity and stimulating better access.

Internet Exchange Point is a physical location where different stakeholders who have ASN meet to exchange local traffic via a switch. Kyrgyzstan is one of the countries where Ferghana Valley is spread. There are several closed IXPs based in Bishkek (ISP, banks). Unlike present IXPs that could not be neutral and open for new members by Charter, Ferghana Valley IXP (FVIXP) will follow principles of openness and neutrality by providing equal access to infrastructure to all stakeholders, including Government agencies, educational and healthcare institutions as well as commercial banks. IXP will help local small and medium ISP to minimize traffic costs, spend more on infrastructure rather than on internet traffic purchase.

Establishing IXP would greatly enhance the utility and value of the regional Internet and promote the growth of the digital economy. According to Terabit Consulting, “Improvement in ICT infrastructure yields: Increased demand for the output of other industries (demand multiplier), New opportunities for production in other industries (supply multiplier), new goods and services for consumers (final demand). It also increases firms’ innovation capabilities and increases the probability of new products, innovations, and organizations.”

 

Members of the Internet Society Kyrgyz Chapter celebrated the 25th anniversary and discussed the future of the Internet.

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InterCommunity 2017: Celebrating 25 years of ISOC

 Members of the Internet Society Kyrgyz Chapter celebrated the 25th anniversary and discussed the future of the Internet.

On September 19, 2017 in the city of Bishkek, Plaza Hotel, an event was held as part of the global celebration of “InterCommunity 2017: Celebrating 25 years of ISOC”. On this day, representatives of the Internet Society (ISOC) around the world exchanged ideas and talked about the future of the Internet. In Bishkek, the participants of the event focused on discussions on the current situation of the Internet in Kyrgyzstan, active policies in this field and new opportunities.

The event was attended by representatives of government bodies, non-governmental organizations, expert community, international organizations, members of the Kyrgyz ISOC Internet Society and the media.

The event began with a video message from Kathy Brown, President of the Internet Society (ISOC), in which she talked about the mission of the organization, the history of creation, new goals and congratulated everyone on the 25th anniversary of the Internet Society. Then Aziz Soltobaev, co-founder of the Kyrgyz Chapter of ISOC, gave a welcoming speech and also made a presentation on the activities of the ISOC, the history of the ISOC in Kyrgyzstan, opportunities and projects being implemented.

One of the important values ​​of membership in the ISOC is access to a large array of materials and knowledge portal.isoc.org for academicians, experts and journalists. Moreover, thanks to participation in the ISOC, there is a unique opportunity to enter and expand the international network of experts on the Internet through participation in such global conferences as IETF95, EuroDIG, ICANN, RIPE NCC, and participation in a world-class policy making (IEEE, Blockchain Special Interest Group). There are also opportunities to participate in such financing programs as the ENOG Fellowship Programs and the Beyond the Net Project Financing Program.

According to Aziz Soltobaev, members of the Kyrgyz Internet Society have already participated in such programs:

• IETF95, Mexico City, Talent Sultanov (2015)

• European Chapter’s meeting, Madrid, Bermet Imanalieva (04/2016)

• European Chapters meeting, Amsterdam, Ermek Niyazov (02/2017)

• EuroDIG, Tallinn, Aziz Soltobaev (06/2017)

• IETF97 Prague, Nurbek Abaskanov (07/2017)

To date, the current projects of the Kyrgyz Chapter of the Internet Society, laid for 2017 are as follows:

Wireless Internet for mountainous and remote areas. The goal of this project is to reduce the digital divide between Bishkek and the regions. At the moment, the analysis and selection of a specific locality is carried out to launch a pilot project.

Ferghana Valley Internet Exchange Point (FVIXP). It is planned to launch the project at the traffic exchange point in the Fergana Valley with a presence in Osh. According to the project, it is planned to conduct wireless Internet for a remote settlement, where it is financially inexpedient to conduct mobile or broadband Internet.

Domain policy in the KG zone. Within the framework of this project, the goal is to reduce the cost of the domain in the kg area from $ 33, excluding VAT to $ 10.

In his speech, Aziz Soltobaev also called on the active members of ISOC to take part in such upcoming global events of 2018 as:

• Chapters meeting

• IETF 101, London, 17-23 March

• CAIGF

• ICANN

• EURODIG2018, Tbilisi, June

Nurbek Abaskanov, chairman of the State Committee for Information Technologies and Communications of the Kyrgyz Republic, spoke about the current situation of the Internet in Kyrgyzstan and its role in the digital transformation of the economy. According to him, the volume of Internet services for the first half of 2017 amounted to 2 013 628.34 thousand soms. As of September 19, 2017, the total number of granted licenses for data transmission is 116, of which 83 are Internet providers.

According to Nurbek Abaskanov, today the total number of active Internet users is 4,916,191, of which 88.5% (4,350,634 users) are mobile Internet subscribers, 11.5% (565,557 users) – fixed Internet subscribers.

In Kyrgyzstan, at the state level, the digital transformation program will be launched under the “Taza Koom” program, according to which the Internet will provide equal access to public services to all residents, including the poorest and most vulnerable. In order to achieve the set goals, according to Nurbek Abaskanov, it is planned “… to conduct broadband Internet in each village within the next couple of years within the framework of the regional interaction project” DigitalCASA. Kyrgyzstan “, which is the core of the digital transformation program” Taza Koom “. And it is also planned to increase cross-border capacity and diversify the sources of Internet access.

It should be noted that the objectives of the State Telecommunications Committee are in line with the goals and mission of the Kyrgyz Chapter of the ISOC, which plans to launch the project on the implementation of accessible internet in the remote areas of the country.

Also, N.Abaskanov noted about the improvement of the infrastructure components of communications, according to his data “the total length of the fiber optic link for the 1st quarter was 16 thousand 869 km, of which 8 thousand km are communication lines.” According to him, to date, there are such gigabit channels as Bishkek-Frankfurt, Dushanbe-Frankfurt, Bishkek-Dushanbe, which allow creating a circular connection that protects from communication breakages.

General Director of Saima Telecom Mukhamediyarov Muslim noted that the existing domain policy in Kyrgyzstan unfortunately does not contribute to the development of the Internet. The problem is a monopoly over the domain space and, accordingly, an unreasonably high price policy. To acquire foreign domains is much cheaper, accordingly they are acquired there, which in turn does not lead to the development of a Kyrnet. In addition, high Internet prices, given the low income of the population, also do not contribute to the development of the Internet and its widespread penetration. Extending the topic of domain policy, Kanat Mukanov noted that the Kyrgyz Republic has a strange situation when the administrator and registrar of the domain zone is one and the same company.

Legislative issues were also raised: the absence in legislative and normative documents of concepts such as Internet, web sites, that are elements of electronic commerece. Some participants noted the need to create legislative conditions, while others believe that regulation of online trade can be made in the existing trade law without creating new laws.

Abaskanov said that within the framework of updating and adopted new strategies, policies and programs, about 180 decrees are being prepared to bring the legislation in step with the times. The post of Deputy Minister for Information Technologies was introduced, the draft resolution was submitted for approval. Under the state telecommunication committee, a working group was formed to harmonize the architecture of IT infrastructures of all departments and services.

Connecting the unconnected – walking the talk in Central Asia

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Access to an open and inclusive Internet has been widely discussed in the framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the global Internet Governance Forum (IGF) over the last few months. The Internet Society’s Regional Bureaus work hard to put the good work and messages stemming from these global forums into practice in our respective regions.

Last week, the Internet Society’s European Regional Bureau (ERB) together with our local partners reached another milestone in our ongoing engagement in the Kyrgyz Republic. We launched our first report in Central Asia providing an assessment of the Internet environment in the Kyrgyz Republic during the Open Government Innovation Week in Bishkek, organized by the Kyrgyz government, the UN Development Program (UNDP) and the World Bank. The report touches on critical policy and technical issues in the context of Internet development, offering food for thought both for the government and the technical and business communities. You can read the full report in English or in Russian on our website!

Better yet, the ERB, with Tommi Karttaavi in the lead, formally launched the ISOC chapter in the Kyrgyz Republic. The newly created Kyrgyz chapter will focus on development of Internet infrastructure and content to improve national Internet adoption levels. The chapter also plans to organize open debates to discuss and popularize the Internet as a platform for social and economic progress. This is very exciting news for us, as national chapters are the foundation for a sustained ISOC engagement at the local level.

Finally, following various policy and technical discussions on the importance of a well-functioning Internet exchange point (IXP) with the local Internet community, Kurtis Lindqvist and Jane Coffin ran a two-day training workshop on IXPs and the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP). The training session was successful in many ways, but most strikingly it was the first time this group of qualified engineers from local ISPs met to discuss the peering environment and common challenges. The content and conclusions of this training will be made available on the IXP toolkit website.

So, what did we learn from this whirlwind of a week in the Kyrgyz Republic? By carrying out policy advocacy and technical capacity building in parallel we can approach the Internet connectivity challenge in a holistic way. Policy is often a long-term tool, whereas technical training can have an impact in a matter of days. Although ISOC believes in driving change through bottom-up processes, we also need to maintain dialogue with high-level decision-makers to have the right top-down messages. And finally, you cannot underestimate the value of building a community. After every event, training and discussion, our community is a little bit larger and more varied – a stronger team to connect the unconnected.

This is all part of an Internet Society philosophy for development – connectivity, community, and capacity development and the policies that sustain them. We believe strongly in this formula for development and look forward to continued engagement with our colleagues in the Kyrgyz Republic and the Central Asian region.

By Maarit Palovirta
Senior Manager, Regional Affairs Europe

Download full report

Video report about workshop on wireless internet

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Video report on the workshop on network communities on creating access in remote and rural areas, organized by the Kyrgyz branch of the Internet community on April 25, 2017.

Thank you very much to our speakers:
Maarit Palovirta, senior Manager, regional issues of the Internet Community in Europe;
Osama Manzar, founder and Director of Digital Empowerment Foundation;
Ucha Seturi, Director of NGO “Association of small and medium business operators of Georgia”.