At the government session chaired by Prime Minister Askar Mamin, the Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry Askar Zhumagaliyev reported on the ongoing work to provide settlements of the Republic of Kazakhstan with broadband Internet access.

As Zhumagaliyev noted, providing the population with modern communication services is one of the main tasks of the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and the Aerospace Industry.

In 2005, only 4 out of 100 people used the Internet in the country, and the cost of the most popular package of services was 19,900 tenge (~ $150), while the download speed was 128 kb / s.

“As a result of the timely execution of Elbasy’s instructions and the implementation of the adopted telecommunication industry development programs aimed at introducing new technologies and the most optimal solutions, today tariffs in dollar terms have decreased several times (from 19,900 tenge to 3,600 tenge). Moreover, in Kazakhstan, tariffs for Internet services are among the lowest,” Zhumagaliyev said.

International experience shows that now Kazakhstan against the background of states with a large territory such as Russia — 76%, the USA — 87.3%, China — 61.2%, Ukraine — 62.5% holds a confident position in the number of Internet users — 84.2%.

Today, 18 million people, and these are residents of all 118 cities and 4,235 rural settlements, already have the access to 3G and / or 4G networks.

Since 2018, under the public-private partnership, the implementation of the project “Providing Broadband Access to Rural Communities of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the Technology of Fiber Optic Communication Lines” has been launched. This project provides for the construction of fiber-optic lines in 1,250 rural settlements, with a total length of more than 20 thousand km, by the end of 2020.

As of April 20, 2020, in the framework of the project, a total of FOCLs were built in 637 settlements. Currently, construction continues in 613 villages.

According to Zhumagaliyev, the main consumption of the Internet is not through fixed networks, but through 3G and / or 4G mobile communications. In this regard, the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and the Aerospace Industry, together with telecom operators, signed a memorandum and approved a schedule for providing villages of over 250 people with 3G and / or 4G services. Currently, work is underway to provide broadband services to 928 rural settlements, where 600 thousand people live.

As a result of the implementation of the above projects, 5,163 villages will be provided with broadband access. In general, the coverage of the population with broadband via 3G and / or 4G will be 99.3%.

“By the end of 2020, only 1,178 villages will remain without Internet access, but I would like to note that no more than 130 thousand people live there. Based on the foregoing, we consider it expedient to provide broadband access for the remaining villages, taking into account the urbanization of these villages and regional development of territories,” Zhumagaliyev noted.

Chairof the Board of Kazakhtelecom JSC Kuanyshbek Yessekeev reported on the progress of the projects “Providing Broadband Access to Rural Communities of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the Technology of Fiber Optic Communication Lines” and “250+”, implemented in accordance with the Digital Kazakhstan State Program.

“The companies of Kazakhtelecom JSC Group are faced with the task of providing access to the Internet and secure data transmission services to 2,496 government institutions in 828 rural settlements of the Republic of Kazakhstan. This will create conditions for second-level telecom operators to provide fixed access to the Internet and telephony services for the population and business in rural areas,” said Yessekeev.

The total term for the implementation of the project is 14 years — from 2018 to 2032. As part of the project, 14,514 km of fiber-optic communication lines will be laid in 828 rural settlements and 2,496 state institutions, including schools and hospitals, will be connected.

To date, 401 villages have been connected out of 828, and work is underway on the construction of fiber-optic lines in 298 villages.

On behalf of Elbasy, within the framework of the State Program Digital Kazakhstan, Kcell JSC and Mobile Telecom Service LLP, which are part of the Kazakhtelecom JSC group of companies, and Kar-Tel LLP, are implementing the 250+ project to develop telecommunication infrastructure.

Also, presentations were made by the Chair of the Board of Transtelecom JSC Zhanbolat Nadyrov, the Executive Director of Kar-Tel LLP Evgeniy Nastradin, as well as Akims of the Akmola Region Yermek Marzhikpayev and North Kazakhstan Region Kumar Aksakalov.