Mongolia - Telecoms, Mobile and Internet

Oct. 20, 2010 - PRLog -- Since the Mongolian Government's telecommunications reform program in the mid-1990s, there has been effective liberalisation of all market segments, partial privatisation of the fixed-line incumbent operator, Mongolia Telecom, and establishment of an independent regulator. Mongolia acceded to the WTO in 1997.  
Competition is in place for both fixed and mobile telephony including local, long-distance and international, Internet, VoIP and VSATs. The Internet market is a small but growing sector. Government initiatives such as the e-Mongolia National Program are helping to spread Internet awareness and usage throughout the country.
While the fixed-line network has been expanding slowly, the mobile phone market has undergone a remarkable boom. The national policy has been to have a competitive telecommunications segment with two CDMA and two GSM mobile telephone service operators. Accordingly, two additional mobile licences were awarded in 2005/06 to Unitel (GSM) and rural mobile operator G-Mobile (CDMA).
As part of the transition to a market-based economy, Mongolia committed itself to modernising its telecommunications network and steadily introducing advanced communications services. The government considers national infrastructure development as a high priority and, in particular, it has focused on the development of the telecoms sector, seeing it as central to the overall development of the country, the improvement of living standards, increasing foreign investment, boosting tourism and private sector development, and implementation of innovative changes.
Major highlights:

Not all areas of Mongolia are connected to the Internet. However, good progress has been made, with most universities and research institutes, government organisations, agencies, banks, and companies in Ulaanbaatar being online. Market penetration continues to remain strong in the urban centres, although the rural sector is catching up.
The number of e-commerce services such as e-banking, online shopping, and e-services has risen in Mongolia. This is partly attributed to a government initiative established in 2005 called the One Home One PC program providing low-cost computers for around US$250.
Broadband subscriptions are increasing and account for nearly 50% of Internet subscriptions. Fibre to the Building deployments have also connected major buildings, hotels, schools, and government houses.
Since the launch of the two new mobile operators, subscribers have increased to over two million due to increased usage in rural areas. This has impacted on fixed-line subscriptions and put the national operator Telecom Mongolia under pressure.
MobiCom launched the country's first 3G WCDMA mobile network in the country.Mongolia-key telecom parameters-2006; 2009, 2010 (e)
Sector200620092010 (e)
Internet users310,000350,000380,000
Broadband subscribers3,50047,00053,000
Fixed-line subscribers195,100188,880185,000
Mobile phone subscribers721,0202,249,0202,362,000
Mobile penetration rate30.0%84.2%87.5%
(Source: based on ITU and industry data)  
For those needing high level strategic analysis and objective analysis on Mongolia, this report is essential reading and gives further information on:

The jointly implemented project by the World Bank and the Mongolian Government called 'Improvement of Information Telecommunication Infrastructure'. The fund was set up for the purpose of bringing telecommunications to rural and remote areas, at the same time expanding services and improving service quality. The project is due to be completed by the end of 2011.
Renewed efforts in early 2009 to complete the privatisation of Mongolia Telecom. The operator continued to provide services throughout the country by leasing network assets from the Posts and Telecommunications Authority, which owned the infrastructure. Although Mongolia Telecom had been a very profitable company throughout most of the 1990s, the advent of mobile competition, international IP telephony providers and later on the substitution of international SMS for voice, all had a negative impact on its profit margins. By 2008 the major portion of its revenue was being gained through international telephone calls where the regulations meant it faced no competition.Mongolia is a small country with predominantly basic telecommunications services. The report covers trends and developments in telecommunications, mobile, Internet and broadband. Subjects include:

Market and industry analyses, trends and developments;
Facts, figures and statistics;
Industry and regulatory issues;
Infrastructure;
Major players, subscribers;
Internet;
Mobile voice and data markets;
Broadband (FttH, DSL, cable TV).  



Table of Contents
1. Executive summary  
2. Key statistics
3. Country Overview
3.1 Background
3.2 Mongolia's economy
4. Regulatory environment
4.1 Background
4.2 Communications Regulatory Commission (CRC)
4.3 Information & Communication Technology Authority (ICTA)
5. Telecommunications market
5.1 Overview of Mongolia's telecom market
5.2 Mongolian Information and Communications Vision 2010
5.3 Interconnection
5.4 Number of licensees-2009
6. Telecommunications infrastructure
6.1 National telecom network
6.1.1 Rural services
6.2 Fixed-line statistics
6.3 Wireless local loop statistics
6.4 International infrastructure
6.5 Chronological data of ICT developments in Mongolia
7. Vision of e-Mongolia
7.1 e-Mongolia status June 2009
7.2 E-government
7.3 On-line services
7.3.1 E-commerce and e-banking
8. Internet market
8.1 Overview
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