In less than a year, the number of Mongolian Internet homepages leapt from one to more than 70. The establishment of an Internet server in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, in late 1996 has opened the country to the global marketplace of free information.
Information can no longer remain the domain of the few.
It now can lead to the empowerment of the many - precisely the prerequisite for the transition from a command economy that restricted the flow of information to a market economy in a democratic society that needs the free flow of information to survive. A government Internet connection links the network to the wider world, and if resources are available, World Wide Web connections will be established. Already four of the CISCs have opened in Uvurhangai and Tuv aimags and in Ulaanbaatar. Two more will open in Khovd and Khuvsgul in 1998. The walk-in Internet centres typically include workstations, a small library with reference material, and basic computer training facilities.