Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 17
By Fikret Dolukhanov - Trend:
In January-July 2018, the volume of mobile communication services in Kazakhstan reached 127.3 billion tenge, which is 2 percent more than in 2017, EnergyProm.kz said in a message.
The population accounts for more than 70 percent of all mobile services.
In January-July 2017, growth was only 0.1 percent. In 2017, as a whole, the sector experienced a decline of almost 10 percent compared to 2016.
Generally speaking, the volume of services has been decreasing in recent years.
In 2018, the number of mobile subscribers also increased. In July, their number was 27.3 million. This figure was 26 million in 2017.
The number of mobile subscribers with online access amounted to 14.1 million. In 2017 the figure was 12.6 million.
On average, over the past seven months, each subscriber spend about 4,700 tenges on cellular operators, against 4800 tenge for the same period 2017.
As reported earlier, a new "cellular giant" can appear in Kazakhstan in the near future. The Antimonopoly Committee of Kazakhstan approved JSC Kazakhtelecom's petition for the acquisition of 75 percent of Kcell shares. The committee also set a number of requirements and conditions in the interests of the country's consumers and the development of the industry as a whole. Any act of violation will entail a review of the decision, including the cancellation of the transaction in court.
According to experts, the deal, if it takes place, will allow Kazakhtelecom, the largest fixed-line operator in Kazakhstan, to take a dominant position in the local cellular communications market. According to their information, Telia Company, owning 24 percent of Kcell shares and Fintur Holdings (JV Telia Company and Turkcell) owning 51 percent, will act as the sellers. Another major shareholder of Kcell is the Kazakh investment company "Freedom Finance" - 9.08 percent.
Kazakhtelecom holds a dominant position in the local telecommunications market. The company also owns a stake in the JV Tele2 - Altel, which is a major player in the Kazakhstan mobile communications market. The main shareholder of Kazakhtelecom is the state fund Samruk-Kazyna - 45.9 percent of the authorized capital (52.03 percent of equities).
($1 = 360.87 tenge, on Aug. 17)
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