Cell phones in Tajikistan

 I'm finally posting about a topic that has fascinated me from when we first arrived (hence the photos taken in the middle of winter). Tajikistan may seem to an American to be far away from the modern world, but that's not true. Like the rest of the world, cell phones are a vital part of life, perhaps even more here since other avenues for communication are much less developed.

There are five major cell phone companies here and the competition between them leads to special promotions and busy stores.

One thing that struck me was the way companies sell specific numbers--apparently, those which are easy to remember are more expensive.

Instead of annual plans, it's more pay-as-you-go here. There are kiosks on nearly every block where you can add minutes on yours or another's phone. (Thank you, Lee, for mastering this system for us.)

Even so, "I ran out of minutes" is a common excuse for an interrupted call or unreturned text.

It's surprising, given the state of the economy here, and the low earnings of most people, how many busy cell phone stores there are here. Here are two of several dozen in one central department store.

Home internet service is relatively very expensive (ten times?),  so people really rely on their phones.

And they're not only useful for communication, but also selfies!