Interfax
November 4

The Bank of New York might lend Uzbekistan $5.184 million to modernize the national data network, a source at the Uzbek Communications and IT Agency told Interfax.

The Uzbek National Bank for Foreign Economic Relations and the Bank of New York might be sign the loan agreement by the end of this year, he said. The loan would be extended under guarantees from the Uzbek government and the U.S. Ex-Im Bank.

The source said that at the end of 2001 U.S. company Belam Inc. and the Communications and IT Agency signed a contract worth more than $5 million to carry out the first phase of the network modernization. The contract is to be carried out in 2003.

The first phase will involve building a central switching node in Tashkent that would provide connections from the national network to international and domestic data networks, manage the network and protect information resources. The second and third phases will entail the installation and connection of regional nodes. The program is expected to boost the volume of data transmission services in the country 20-fold, and the number of users 11.8-fold.

The total project cost will be $10 million-$15 million, according to preliminary figures.

Uzbekistan's government in June of this year adopted a computerization and IT development program for the period to 2010. The program is expected to be financed by loans from foreign banks, and by operators and providers themselves.

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