Turkmenistan
Power & telecom standards in Turkmenistan
Connectivity Overview
Tempest Telecom offered dial-up internet access, WiFi hotspot access and broadband ethernet access in Turkmenistan. We also offered Iridium satellite Internet and Voice access in Turkmenistan for communications in rural areas without infrastructure.
Turkmenistan uses 220V at 50Hz. Power outlets are type B, F and telephone jacks are RJ-11.
Dial-up Internet Access
Tempest Telecom provided local dial-up access numbers in Turkmenistan at $0.155/minute. Travelers could connect using any standard modem with an RJ-11 telephone adapter.
WiFi Hotspot Access
Tempest Telecom provided WiFi hotspot access in Turkmenistan at $19.95/day for unlimited browsing.
Adapters & Power
North American (Type A/B) plugs are compatible. An adapter may not be needed for US travelers.
Standard RJ-11 jacks are used. Most international modems will connect without an adapter.
Turkmenistan at a Glance
- Capital
- Ashgabat
- Phone Code
- +993
- Voltage
- 220V / 50Hz
- Power Plug
- B, F
- Phone Jack
- RJ-11
- Currency
- Manat
- Dial-up
- $0.155/min
- WiFi
- $19.95/day
About connectivity in Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan uses 220V/50Hz with Type C and Type F outlets. The phone jack is RJ-11. TurkmenTelecom holds the state monopoly on fixed-line and Internet gateway operations; the mobile market is operated by Altyn Asyr (TM Cell, state-owned) with limited competition.
Turkmen commercial Internet has been among the most constrained globally — the Niyazov-era (1991-2006) and post-2006 Berdimuhamedov-era information-control frameworks have kept Turkmen Internet substantially filtered and surveilled. International bandwidth is routed through state-controlled channels with extensive content blocking.
The Turkmen prepaid international calling-card market through the 2000s and 2010s served the modest outbound Turkmen diaspora — concentrated in Russia, Turkey (the linguistic-cultural neighbor), and the broader Central Asian labor circuit.
Tempest Telecom served Turkmenistan through dial-up POPs in Ashgabat. The substantial natural-gas sector (the Galkynysh field is one of the world's largest), the Karakum Desert expedition customer base, and the broader Caspian regional maritime industry sustained Iridium customer demand.
Modern Turkmenistan has limited Internet access by global standards; mobile data exists in major cities but is subject to extensive filtering and periodic shutdowns.
Tempest's services across Turkmenistan, 1997–2012
Tempest Telecommunications operated international connectivity services in Turkmenistan between 1997 and 2012 under a unified prepaid account that absorbed multiple service types onto a single customer credential. Customers in Turkmenistan 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. An attempted kiosk-payment federation (PATN, 1998) extended the same architecture to public Internet terminals but failed to reach scale.
Both Iridium (global LEO) and Thuraya (regional GEO) satellite voice were available in Turkmenistan from approximately 2001, alongside global BGAN data from late 2005.
Nearby countries in Asia
Philippines · Singapore · Sri Lanka · Taiwan · Tajikistan · Thailand · Uzbekistan · Vietnam