DUSHANBE, July 17, Asia-Plus -- Tajikistan is currently considering the possibility of canceling payment for incoming calls for all cellular operators working in the country, Jaffar Rustamov, the head of office of open joint-stock company (OJSC) “Tojiktelecom” (Tajik state-owned national telecommunications operator), announced at a news conference in Dushanbe on July 17. 

According to him, it is still impossible from the point of both technical and financial views.  “The point is when the principle “phoning pays” is introduced many problems may occur at cellular operators as it was in Russia, for example,” said Mr. Rustamov, “It will be practically impossible to get through; at present cellular operators offering free incoming calls service have such problems”    

To tackle these problems it is necessary to solve all technical issues and only after that introduce the “phoning pays” principles for all cellular operators in the country.  

“On the other hand, following introduction of this principle, cellular operators may raise payments for outgoing calls in order to cover their expenses,” the “Tojiktelecom” official noted.  

According to information from the Ministry of Communications, at present nine cellular operators are working in Tajikistan: MLT; Babilon-M; Indigo-Tajikistan; Indigo-Somoncom; M-TEKO; Tajphone; Telecom Inc (Skytel); and TK-Mobile.  Of them, MLT, Babilon-M, Indigo-Tajikistan, Indigo-Somoncom, M-TEKO, Telecom Inc (Skytel) and TK-Mobile offer free incoming call service.    

Compared to 2005 a number of users of cellular communication in Tajikistan has increased by 20 percent and amounted to 560,000 people as of July 1.