Digital Ecosystem Country Assessment (DECA) Report
The Uzbekistan DECA took place from May-August 2021. The DECA team conducted desk research, consultations with USAID/Uzbekistan, and two and a half weeks of in-country key informant interviews. The in-country research included site visits to the Autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan and Bukhara Region, as well as virtual interviews with stakeholders in Namangan Region. The DECA Team conducted 66 interviews with stakeholders from government, industry, civil society, academia, international development organizations, and USAID/Uzbekistan technical teams.
Pillar 1: Digital Infrastructure and Adoption
- The Government’s programs to expand internet coverage to the entire country are showing some successes, but they are not designed to develop a competitive telecommunications market.
- Overcoming the digital divides between men and women and urban and rural populations requires long term planning and resource commitments that includes broad stakeholder engagement and coordination.
- The lack of a holistic national approach to cybersecurity puts the data of local governments, businesses, organizations, and citizens at risk and jeopardizes trust in digital transformation.
Pillar 2: Digital Society, Rights, and Governance
- The Government maintains strict regulatory controls over the internet landscape, hampering development of a robust online information ecosystem
- The public is producing and consuming more and more digital content and engaging with the Government through online platforms, but awareness of online risks is very low
- Diverse, multi-platform, high-quality educational and business content in local languages is sorely lacking
- Uzbekistan has committed to digital government transformation as a critical part of the ambitious Digital Uzbekistan 2030 Strategy, but the implementation remains challenging and unsystematic.
Pillar 3: Digital Economy
- Widespread reforms are building a foundation for a digital economy, but the reforms are mostly top-down and state-led.
- Digital financial services are evolving, but the market is lacking management competencies and digital financial literacy
- E-commerce is developing on the local market, but uneven in cross-border trade
- The digital startup ecosystem is nascent and largely driven by government-backed entities
- The drive for digital transformation across all sectors of the economy is resulting in high unmet demand for digital and IT talent
mAccess Indicators & Rankings
The information below is part of the mAccess Diagnostic Tool and is intended to help assess foundational components of Uzbekistan’s digital ecosystem using indicators on internet availability, affordability, access, and use. Click here to explore the full tool.
Country Snapshot – Uzbekistan
- 2G Coverage:
0.98
- 3G Coverage:
90.00
- Cost per SMS in USD for 10,000 bulk SMS:
0.08
- EIU Rank:
0.00
- ITU IDI Rank:
95.00
- Number of Internet Exchange Points (IXPs):
1.00
- Living 2G Coverage ( in million ):
31.40
- Living 3G Coverage ( in million ):
2871.96
- No of MBBC:
16520252.00
- Not using Mobile Internet 2G Coverage:
14.88
- Number of active mobile money agents:
0.00
- Number of active mobile money users:
0.00
- Smartphones 3G Coverage:
2855.44
- WEF Rank:
0.00
Access – Uzbekistan
- Land-lines per 100 inhabitants:
10.79
- Mobile broadband connections per 100 inhabitants:
51.77
- Mobile internet users per 100 inhabitants:
40.38
- Active SIM cards per 100 inhabitants:
76.04
Affordability – Uzbekistan
- Mobile prepaid 1GB basket:
1.58
- Moblie Prepaid 1GB basket – largest operator:
3.15
- Mobile prepaid voice basket – largest operator:
1.46
- Effective price:
0.00
- GB per GDPC:
116.67
- Mobile prepaid voice basket:
1.46
Competition – Uzbekistan
- Market concentration:
3072.00
- Interconnection: Mobile Termination Rates:
0.00
- Highest MNO EBITDA Margin in country:
0.48
- Mobile-specific taxes / TCMO:
0.00
- Number of Mobile Operators:
5.00
- Market share of largest mobile operators:
0.40
Infrastructure – Uzbekistan
- International bandwidth per user:
5.68
- Connections per Base stations:
0.00
- Population covered by 3G signal:
0.75
- Population covered by 4G signal:
0.43
- Country level investment per subscriber:
2.99
Usage – Uzbekistan
- Average revenue per user (Blended ARPU):
4.37
- Facebook users per 100 inhabitants:
0.07
- Mobile Data traffic per active SIM:
684.95
- M2M connections per 100 inhabitants:
2.12
- Minutes of Use per active SIM:
0.00
Digital Ecosystem Evidence Map
The information below is part of the Digital Ecosystem Evidence Map (DEEM) and displays up-to-date resources on digital development interventions and the digital ecosystem for Uzbekistan. Click here to explore the full tool.
