DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/4d0280/kyrgyzstan_telec) has announced the addition of the "Kyrgyzstan - Telecoms, Mobile and Internet" report to their offering.
Kyrgyzstan's open market policy provides ongoing boost for telecom sector
The telecommunications sector in Kyrgyzstan is characterised by an open market that has welcomed both foreign and domestic investors. This has been effectively done in accordance with the requirements set down by the WTO. Under the terms of the country's accession to the WTO (which took place in 1998), full liberalisation of the telecoms market had been expected to be achieved by end-2006. According to the ITU, Kyrgyzstan had implemented full competition across all segments of its telecoms sector by 2007.
The telecom sector has been part of the final phase of a large scale privatisation program that has been steadily progressing in the country since 1992. The start of market reforms in 1991 saw the state telecommunications agency, Kyrgyztelecom, begin to expand and upgrade its legacy telecom network, which at the time was outdated and poorly distributed. With the expansion of the telecoms sector, upgraded standards have been adopted. At the same time, a new regulatory authority - the National Communications Agency which later became known as the National Agency for Information Resources, Technologies and Communication - was set up to oversee the sector. At an early stage, Kyrgyztelecom was restructured as a public corporation and the government moved towards a partial sale of the operator to the private sector. Around 10% of the company quickly passed into private hands. By mid-2010, after a series of failed attempts to sell off the government shareholding, the government was still holding almost 78% of Kyrgyztelecom.
Market highlights:
- By early 2010 mobile penetration in Kyrgyzstan was around 85%;
- After very strong growth in the three years to 2008, the country's mobile subscriber base was still expanding at an annual rate of 26% during 2009 and into 2010;
- Fixed-line penetration in Kyrgyzstan stood at 9% by early 2010; however, the annual growth rate for fixed lines was almost zero;
- The conversion of the country's fixed network from analogue was moving slowly, with an estimated 70% digital by 2009, but well up from just 37% in 2004;
- Kyrgyzstan's internet usage has undergone a healthy expansion over the last few years, with user penetration reported at 20% by 2010;
- On the other hand, actual internet subscriptions remained relatively low in Kyrgyzstan (less than 1% penetration), with the local population making extensive use of public internet access (cybercafs, etc). (Note: On the basis of ITU figures for 2009, the ratio of internet users to subscribers was running at 45 to 1 which is an unusually high ratio compared with other similar markets and may suggest some inconsistency in the figures.)
- Fixed broadband internet access was almost non-existent with subscriptions running at around 0.1% of the population;
- According to the ITU, Kyrgyzstan has implemented full competition across all segments of its telecoms sector.
Key Topics Covered:
1. Executive summary
2. Key statistics
3. Telecommunications market
4. Regulatory environment
5. Fixed network operators in Kyrgyzstan
6. Telecommunications infrastructure
7 Internet Market
8. Mobile communications
9. Broadcasting
Companies featured:
- MegaCom (BiMoCom Ltd) Bitel/Sky Mobile
- Aktel
- Katel
- Kyrgyz National Communications Agency
For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/4d0280/kyrgyzstan_telec