Telecoms & IT

Since it was liberalised in the early 1990s, Mongolia’s telecommunications sector has grown rapidly. As of the first half of 2014 the four major mobile operators reported more than 4.3m registered users in total. This figure is considerably higher than the population, which means many residents own more than one SIM card. Increases in mobile penetration have facilitated rapid technological improvements across all four mobile operators, as well as steadily rising competition. Given the growth potential in the data segment, local players are looking forward to rising revenues. Indeed, Mongolia’s nascent ICT industry – which overlaps considerably with the telecoms sector – is in the early stages of what many local firms expect to be a period of considerable innovations. Despite broader challenges facing the country, the domestic technology industry is regarded as a strategic growth area and the government has made a concerted effort to encourage the sector to invest in expansion. With this in mind, most local players see a bright future for Mongolian ICT.

This chapter contains interviews with Ts. Jadambaa, Chairman, the Information Technology, Post and Telecommunications Authority; and R. Ganbold, CEO, Unitel; and a viewpoint from P. Margad-Erdene, Executive Director, ICN LLC.