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Uzbekistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia, and at first, doesn’t seem to be a very obvious target for hosting businesses. However, there’s more than meets the eye: the country has a rapidly developing digital side, and is ripe with opportunities. To understand them better, we’ve met with Evgeniy Tochilin, the CTO of Billur. The company holds a leading position in the country for physical servers, shared hosting, virtual servers, sales of SSL certificates, and even for website builders! During the interview we’ve recapped below, Evgeniy Talks us through the shared hosting market of the country, and discusses possibilities for development.

Uzbekistan: state of the market

Despite its seemingly small size, the country has a population of around 33+ million people. The internet penetration rate, while hard to pinpoint exactly, stands at around 65%. In the cities, the penetration rate is higher, while in regions, smaller numbers of people have access to the connection. However, the market is growing. “People start to understand the importance of hosting and domains, through ads, friends, etc. We try to do our part and educate the people on what hosting is, and what domain is, in an effort to develop the market. There really is a huge opportunity for growth,” says Evgeniy. Luckily, the Internet is becoming more and more accessible for people, and Evgeniy hopes they’ll reach the level of Europe and the USA. In Uzbekistan, the Internet is a monopoly: Uzbek Telecom is the state operator, and it brings the Internet connection to the country. After that, smaller companies buy and resell internet services. This monopoly is one of the reasons for a lower Internet penetration rate, but there have been plenty of positive changes. “We hope that we’ll be able to reach the levels of the US and Europe. Internet accessibility is growing, and the better the Internet, the faster businesses will start growing, and it’s good for the economy in general.”

Domain preference in Uzbekistan

In Uzbekistan, people think locally. In the country, there are around 75,000 local domains registered, and the number continues to grow. When registering new domains, businesses feel more comfortable with the local .uz domains. There is, however, a small tendency towards .com and .net domains. However, Evgeniy mentions that this is done mainly because companies think of future growth. “Clients, naturally, want to grow and eventually enter the international market. In this case, more popular domains are a better choice.

Language and support

Uzbek is the state language of Uzbekistan, but Russian is very popular too. A lot of people in the country use Russian daily, so the info on its website of Billur is available both in Uzbek and Russian. People are content with both versions and understand them equally. The support too is available in both languages, which are the main languages customers use. However, if there are any issues raised in English, there are people who can solve them.

Pricing and payments

The pricing of hosting and domain services in Uzbekistan is accessible, standing at around $2 for domains, and $2-6 for hosting. The main thing with hosting prices, it is noted, is that they are more or less the same everywhere, but the packages differ. In one country, for $1 people will receive a very limited offer, while in other countries, they’ll get a full service.

When it comes to payment, it gets a bit tricky: SMBSs need to sign the contract on paper, and then send the payment via a bank transfer. For individual users, it’s easier. Two of the more popular payment gateways are Click and PayMe, but people also use cards.

Website builders as a tool of choice

In Uzbekistan, the popularity of website builders as a tool is growing. So much so that, according to Evgeniy, Billur being the only hosting company with a website builder puts them at a significant advantage. Local businesses and individuals prefer to build websites locally, with the exception of going international, when they need to purchase hosting and domains outside. “Website builder popularity is growing rapidly. People ask for them more and try more. The majority of clients who’ve tried website builders, continue using them to build and maintain their websites.”

Final words

Making a deep dive into newly-emerging markets is always exciting! These markets offer many opportunities, endless space for creativity, and also the flexibility that many more established markets lack. Uzbekistan, with its growing interest in the Internet, seems to be exactly such a market for shared hosting businesses. So, if you are looking for the next market you want to expand your shared hosting business, Uzbekistan may just be one of the best choices!