True, it is by no means a mass medium yet. I t is impossible to determine the exact size of the Internet, where hosts are and how many users there are. No hosts were found in Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan. To compare, the Netherlands has 1 host for every 57 citizens. T he number of Internet users is even more difficult to estimate.
Most users only have access to e-mail.
Secondly, there are no means to check it, since the number of subscribers at providers only gives an indication of the number of connections, not the number of people that can use that connection. Put practically, universities and research institutes may have one connection which is used by several students. The numbers are said to double every year and every six months respectively. I n summary, Central Asia, the Transcaucasus, Belarus and Moldova so far have little Internet infrastructure. There are hosts and users in each country, yet it would be to too optimistic to regard them as something else than exceptions to the rule.