Internet in Uzbekistan is far behind the level of the former CIS countries. The speed is slow, the coverage area is limited, however, there are few favorable offers for tourists.
Internet in hotels
Almost in all hotels of Uzbekistan tourists are provided with free Wi-Fi, but the normal connection speed is guaranteed only in hotels with 4-5 stars. In low-cost hotels, the connection is just enough for messengers.
Mobile Internet
Until 2018, mobile Internet in Uzbekistan at most did not satisfy the actual needs. Nowadays, tourists are able to buy a SIM card with Internet access from one of the local operators.
In large cities, the connection is pretty good, but the outskirts are not fully covered. All the operators provide 3G. In small towns, the quality of Internet access is much worse, but you can surf the web in the “slow” mode.
The government is doing everything possible to catch up with the CIS countries in the quality of Internet connection and coverage. For this purpose, a special project was developed to improve accessibility in 2019. President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev instructed to reduce the prices, and ordered to equalize the speed and quality to CIS countries by 2020.
Providers
Local residents use the services of 5 providers.
Beeline
The most popular mobile operator. Its services are used by more than 10 million people. The operator provides high-quality communication and stable Internet speed. The subscription fee is not large, one can choose the preferred number of calls and megabytes.
UMS
The main competitor of Beeline, so the quality of coverage and cost of services do not differ. The feature of the operator — special offers for tourists. Each airport of Uzbekistan possess the point-of-sale, so one can buy a phone number immediately upon arrival in the country.
Ucell
The third most popular mobile operator. It offers low prices and high-quality mobile Internet. However, the connection is qualitative only in Tashkent, Samarkand, and Bukhara.
Uzmobile
This is the national operator of the country. Only half a million people use the services of the operator. Advantages — it covers even the most remote cities and villages of the country. Of course, the speed of the Internet is slow, but it is everywhere.
Perfectum Mobile
Like Uzmobile, Perfectum Mobile has coverage in all cities of the country. Operator services are not very popular, but the company works on the quality of connection and tries to implement 4G coverage throughout the country.
How to connect to a local number
One can buy a SIM card of a local operator only with official documents. One will need a passport and a document confirming hotel accommodation (the right to temporary residence in Uzbekistan).
The price of connecting the number of all operators is about $1 (of course, in national currency).
Price of mobile Internet
The price varies from the selected operator and tariff. Operators provide special tariffs with a fixed amount of traffic (MB), but local residents prefer to buy separate Internet packages for a month to pay only for those amount of MB that was used.
The average price for 1 GB of mobile Internet is $4. One can buy an Internet package using a special code (all operators have different). It is important that there is the needed amount of money to be discarded from the mobile account.
To fund one’s mobile account is simple: PAYNET payment system is widespread all over the country, with the help of which one can recharge the mobile account in 3-5 minutes.