Kyrgyzstan
Power & telecom standards in Kyrgyzstan
Connectivity Overview
Tempest Telecom offered dial-up internet access, WiFi hotspot access and broadband ethernet access in Kyrgyzstan. We also offered Iridium satellite Internet and Voice access in Kyrgyzstan for communications in rural areas without infrastructure.
Kyrgyzstan uses 220V at 50Hz. Power outlets are type C, F and telephone jacks are RJ-11.
Dial-up Internet Access
Tempest Telecom provided local dial-up access numbers in Kyrgyzstan at $0.255/minute. Travelers could connect using any standard modem with an RJ-11 telephone adapter.
WiFi Hotspot Access
Tempest Telecom provided WiFi hotspot access in Kyrgyzstan at $19.95/day for unlimited browsing.
Adapters & Power
Travelers from North America will need a power plug adapter. European Type C/F adapters are widely compatible.
Standard RJ-11 jacks are used. Most international modems will connect without an adapter.
Kyrgyzstan at a Glance
- Capital
- Bishkek
- Phone Code
- +996
- Voltage
- 220V / 50Hz
- Power Plug
- C, F
- Phone Jack
- RJ-11
- Currency
- Som
- Dial-up
- $0.255/min
- WiFi
- $19.95/day
About connectivity in Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan uses 220V/50Hz with Type C and Type F outlets. The phone jack is RJ-11. Kyrgyz Telecom holds substantial fixed-line market position; the mobile market is contested between Beeline Kyrgyzstan (Veon), MegaCom, and O! (NurTelecom).
Kyrgyz commercial Internet emerged in 1995 through limited operators. The country's post-Soviet relative openness to foreign investment (compared to neighbors Uzbekistan and Tajikistan) supported earlier commercial competition. Mobile data dominates current Internet access.
The Kyrgyz prepaid international calling-card market through the 2000s and 2010s served the substantial Kyrgyz labor migration — an estimated 700,000-1 million Kyrgyz workers in Russia (remittances are a substantial GDP component), plus Kazakhstan and Turkey.
Tempest Telecom served Kyrgyzstan through dial-up POPs in Bishkek. The Tian Shan mountain expedition customer base (Khan Tengri, Peak Pobeda climbing operations), the gold-mining sector (Kumtor operations), and the broader Central Asian humanitarian customer base sustained Iridium demand.
Modern Kyrgyzstan has expanding mobile-data coverage with FTTH concentrated in Bishkek.
Tempest's services across Kyrgyzstan, 1997–2012
Tempest Telecommunications operated international connectivity services in Kyrgyzstan between 1997 and 2012 under a unified prepaid account that absorbed multiple service types onto a single customer credential. Customers in Kyrgyzstan drew from the same balance for pre-paid international voice calling, RADIUS-authenticated dial-up Internet roaming, metered Wi-Fi hotspot access, Iridium and Thuraya satellite voice, and Inmarsat BGAN and Thuraya data terminals. The PATN kiosk-card clearinghouse (Tempest's TITAN kiOSK, incorporated 2000) extended the same card-and-PIN model to public Internet terminals but did not reach scale.
Both Iridium (global LEO) and Thuraya (regional GEO) satellite voice were available in Kyrgyzstan from approximately 2001, alongside global BGAN data from late 2005.
Nearby countries in Asia
Indonesia · Japan · Kazakhstan · Korea. South · Laos · Macau · Malaysia · Maldives