Interfax
October 21

The number of Internet users in Uzbekistan grew 48% to 407,500 as of October 1 from 275,000 at the beginning of 2003, an official at the country's Communications and IT Agency told Interfax.

The number of Internet service providers in the country rose from 130 to 196 in the nine months. As of October 1, 455 government institutions and 6,691 companies were connected to the Internet, up from respectively 286 and 5,123 at the beginning of the year.

The number of public Internet access points, where about 70% of all users surf the Net, increased to 155 from 100.

These figures were reported at a cabinet meeting on information and communications technologies (ICT), the official said.

Communications and IT companies provided 145.7 billion sum (975.16 sum/$1) in services in the first nine months of 2003, 31% more than in the same period last year. Investment in the ICT sector, including loans, totaled 40.3 billion sum, or 21% more than planned.

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