Digital minister explains frequent failures of mobile services in Kazakhstan by lack of competition

On the sidelines of a cabinet meeting, Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry Bagdat Musin told journalists why the work of mobile communication has been disrupted so often recently.

What is the reason for disruptions? According to Musin, all the problems related to the recent disruption of mobile services were caused by the ongoing modernization of equipment conducted by mobile operators.

«This situation is due to the modernization of equipment because the current infrastructure isn’t stable and requires an upgrade. For example, regarding the issue (the recent failure of Tele2), the mobile operator carried out maintenance work at night, and base stations turned out to be overloaded in the morning due to an influx of users at the time, » the minister said.

Who is responsible for this? As Musin noted, although the ministry controls the quality of service and can fine market participants for violations, it can’t interfere with their operational activities. Therefore, mobile operators are those who are responsible for the quality of their services. However, due to loads of complaints by people, the ministry has decided to control the process of modernization and review corresponding plans twice a month.

«Mobile operators decide on their own all issues related to purchasing, installing and modernizing the equipment. In turn, the ministry can evaluate the quality of the internet in a certain area and impose a fine for a violation. However, this time we have intervened as the authorized agency due to many complaints by people. We are reviewing operators’ modernization plans every two weeks. For example, we see how many base stations they have already bought and installed, what residential buildings they have chosen for cooperation and so on. I personally control this work,» the minister said.

What is the ultimate solution? According to Musin, the source of the problem with poor quality of mobile communication is the lack of competition in the country’s market.

«Actually, this is not our job. This is the responsibility of operators, which must fight for their clients and provide them with high-quality services. I think that the source of this problem is the lack of competition in our market. We have three mobile operators but the quality of communication isn’t particularly good. This is why last year I suggested selling one of the operators to a private investor. The government shouldn’t control two operators simultaneously. When we receive three mobile operators ready to compete on equal conditions, we will obtain the quality and relevant prices,» he underlined.

According to the digital minister, the introduction of 5G is now expected in 2026, a year earlier than previously planned.