Tag: Internet Society Kyrgyzstan Chapter

School of Ekinbaeva (Bar-Bulak v., Issyk-Kul region)

Posted on by kyrgyzisoc

In the fifth school it was possible to meet not only teachers, but also pupils whom in school will count 268.

The presentation ilimBox called about ten active high school students and several teachers.

In this school, we noticed posters prohibiting the use of a mobile device at school, as in the classroom, children often use it for entertainment purposes.

We, in turn, have shown that with the advent of “IlimBox” smartphone can be used exclusively for educational purposes, and all this can be fun through video lessons.

School of R. Jangazieva (Kara-Koo, Issyk-Kul region)

Posted on by kyrgyzisoc

The fourth school in line was school of R. Jangaziev (Kara-Koo v., Issyk-Kul region).

There are 776 students enrolled, however, we found only teachers, but it should be noted their interest in the project was genuine.

After the presentation, everyone was happy to test the connection to the network via the phone.

During the conversation with the teachers-identified the need to download online tests for ORT in basic and additional subjects.

Launch of the Suusamyr Net Community Network

Posted on by kyrgyzisoc

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.

Posted on by kyrgyzisoc

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

Posted on by kyrgyzisoc

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?

Posted on by kyrgyzisoc

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