Altyn Asyr (mobile operator)

Altyn Asyr
TM CELL
Company typeState-owned closed joint-stock company (CJSC)
IndustryMobile telecommunications
Founded2004
Headquarters,
ParentTurkmentelecom
Websitetmcell.tm
Altyn Asyr SIM-card

Altyn Asyr CJSC (Turkmen: "Altyn Asyr" ýapyk görnüşli paýdarlar jemgyýeti, lit.'Golden Age') is the state owned mobile operator in Turkmenistan. The company uses the TM CELL brand as its trade name. In September 2017, it had more than 5,5 million subscribers.[1] It is headquartered in Ashgabat.

The company was founded through official decree by Turkmenistan leader Saparmurat Niyazov in 2004.[2]

The company has a monopoly in the mobile market in Turkmenistan.[2] The company is headed by Shyhmyrat Shaharliyev, a member of Turkmen president Serdar Berdimuhamedov's family.[2] The shareholders of the company are not publicly disclosed.[2] Telecommunications are closely monitored and censored in Turkmenistan.[2] Despite considerable investment by Turkmen authoritarian regime into the company, the services provided by the company have been described as poor.[2]

  1. ^ "We are three and half million of people". Archived from the original on 2013-10-16. Retrieved 2013-09-17.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Myatiev, Ruslan; Shikhmuradov, Bayram; Kupfer, Matthew. "One Family's 'Golden Age': President's Relative Controls Turkmenistan's Only Mobile Operator". OCCRP. Retrieved 2022-04-02.