Bagdat Musin cites reasons impeding the market.
Low pricing and monopoly, these are the dual factors that restrain the market. This statement was made by Bagdat Musin, the Minister of Digital Development, Innovations, and Aerospace Industry, as reported by Sarbaz.kz, citing the official's social media account.
"This is a business, and for business development, which includes network construction and quality enhancement, investments are essential. These investments stem from income. If income is low, there are no investments in development, hence no quality. Moreover, the rise in traffic consumption in the country, attributed to the development of new social networks, has grown exponentially. What does this signify? It signifies an increased burden on operator networks. However, costs haven't risen proportionally to the surge in consumed traffic," writes B. Musin.
According to iKS-Consulting data, the average mobile internet traffic per user in Kazakhstan reached 13.9 GB per month last year. For comparison, this indicator was 5.6 GB per month in North American countries. Without considering 5G implementation, mobile traffic in Kazakhstan grew at a pace of 60% in 2019 to 21% in 2022, a trend that will continue, highlighted the minister.
"A second factor 'hindering' the market is monopoly. The de-monopolisisng hasn't been canceled; one of the communication operators must be removed from Kazakhtelecom’s control. The fines haven't vanished, in fact, we are issuing them more than ever before," asserts the head of the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations, and Aerospace Industry.
Musin also reminds us of radio-phobes, who pose a global challenge. In Astana alone, residents in 27 residential complexes oppose the installation of base stations.
Furthermore, the maximum allowable radiation levels in our country are stricter compared to others. For instance, in Kazakhstan, it's 10 µW/cm², while in the US, Japan, South Korea, it's 200-1000 µW/cm². Research by WHO and numerous other studies haven't identified health risks for the population, concluded B. Musin.
