How Freedom Telecom is building telecom operator around financial ecosystem

A large holding needs its own infrastructure. Having a telecom company within the group gives us control over connection quality and content delivery speeds. That is critical for banking services, where reliability and security are essential, and for the Freedom Media project, where speed is crucial. Essentially, we are an infrastructure component of the ecosystem, enabling fixed-line internet, Wi-Fi and, potentially, mobile services.

Communications are now a basic necessity, like electricity and water, and we want to keep them affordable. The economics work both ways: in the long run, selling communications services through SuperApp is more profitable than operating on the open market because we don’t have to pay to acquire the customer again — they are already part of the ecosystem. That is the model we are building: infrastructure embedded in the holding company’s financial and digital ecosystem.

There simply isn’t any ready-to-use infrastructure on the market that we can lease and depend on. If there is only one cable in a region, it creates a single point of failure. Imagine a tractor accidentally cutting that cable. Everyone loses service. Building a new operator while depending on someone else’s single point of failure doesn’t make sense. We need control over reliability, and only our own network can provide that.

There are several major obstacles. First, regulations are complex, and obtaining permits to lay cables and gain access to rooftops can be difficult. Second, telecom requires enormous infrastructure investment, and capital in Kazakhstan is currently very expensive. It is easier to keep money in deposits than to invest it in construction. But communications infrastructure will not develop without investment, so we are making a deliberate decision to invest. The third reason, which is often overlooked, is fear of radio-frequency radiation. In fact, I believe it is at the root of many of the country’s communications problems.

Kazakhstan’s limits on the permitted power of telecom equipment are significantly more restrictive than those in many other countries, and the permitted levels are much lower than the intensity of sunlight. Despite what many people believe about radio signals, the reality works the other way around. The farther you are from a base station, the more power your phone has to use to reach the network — it has to “shout” louder. That also drains the phone’s battery faster. Base stations should be closer to people so they can operate at lower power, essentially “whispering.” Unfortunately, because of public concerns, base stations are often not allowed on rooftops. That restricts the development of communications infrastructure across the industry.

Our services — fixed internet, Wi-Fi, fixed wireless access (FWA) and B2B services — are interconnected and operate as a unified system, complementing one another. We have already launched FWA networks in Shymkent, Aktau, Taraz, Turkistan and Konayev, and we are rolling out the technology in Astana and Almaty. The service is already available in some parts of those cities. We use Huawei equipment. Thanks to the favorable frequency range and wide bandwidth, we can deliver speeds of more than 2 gigabits per second. We also operate about 3,000 Wi-Fi hotspots, and the number of users has already surpassed 1 million. These are not separate products. They are layers of a single network on which we build customer services.

We have a significant base of anchor B2B clients and a growing number of fiber-optic customers. As I mentioned, we have surpassed 1 million Wi-Fi users. FWA is growing very quickly. In some cities, we have already captured 10% of the market in less than a year.

We don’t want people to think we are purely a B2B company. We aren’t. B2B does generate most of our revenue today, but we already have a mass-market segment that includes fixed internet, Wi-Fi and FWA for households. Strategically, we are focusing on both consumers and small and medium-sized businesses. The idea is to offer more than an internet connection. We want to provide comprehensive products, including AI-based solutions, video surveillance and Wi-Fi, and connect them with Freedom Bank products and services such as Freedom Travel. That is something a traditional operator cannot offer.

Our base stations can become the foundation of a mobile network, and technologically, we are moving in that direction. The problem is that in Kazakhstan, frequencies and licenses are essentially the same thing, and spectrum is physically limited. There is enough for three or four operators at most. So, the key issue is not hardware. It is access to spectrum.

More than $300 million has been invested, with some of that going to Freedom Cloud and Freedom Media. We consider 7 to 10 years a reasonable payback period for an infrastructure project of this scale. That is a normal time frame in telecommunications, where capital is invested for the long term.

It is too early to talk about specific results, but greater subscriber loyalty is exactly what we hope to achieve. The logic is simple. People generally shouldn’t have to worry about topping up their balances. Payments for communications services should be seamlessly integrated with their bank cards and the ecosystem’s shared wallet. When communications, banking and everyday services are integrated, customers have fewer reasons to leave. Otherwise, they lose not just one service but the convenience of the entire ecosystem.

We believe the first truly ecosystem-based product will emerge from the mobile network. For example, a customer buying coffee at a coffee shop could receive not only cash back in Freedom currency but also additional gigabytes of data. Communications and financial services would work seamlessly together. For smart home services, we are focusing on partnerships with existing device manufacturers. For example, we are working with Tuya Smart to adapt its products to our market. We plan to launch a commercial smart home product in the coming months.

We can already see synergies in the subscriber base. We are currently moving about 20,000 to 30,000 subscribers from the acquired companies to our brand and integrating them into SuperApp. We don’t choose between building a network and acquiring a large customer base. We do both at the same time.

We are going to rely on two things: consistently high speeds and the convenience of the ecosystem. Customers don’t need to download a separate app or create another account. Everything is already available within the familiar Freedom ecosystem. We are moving toward making home internet part of a single subscription that includes the holding’s other services. In that case, we are not just another provider. We become part of the lifestyle the customer is already accustomed to.

We look at two groups of metrics. The first is customer-related: the number of subscribers, their lifetime value (LTV) and the retention rate. These indicators show the long-term health of the business. The second group covers physical infrastructure: the number of sites, network capacity and the volume of traffic carried. These metrics show the strength of the business’s foundation. For an infrastructure operator, both groups are important because one is incomplete without the other.

Kazakhstan is our key market for new products. It is where we primarily test and launch them. The holding company, meanwhile, is expanding internationally. For example, we acquired a bank in Turkey, and telecom services could eventually follow the ecosystem there. However, that would be a separate stage and remains only a possibility for the future. We will approach international expansion carefully, taking market conditions into account and looking for markets where the right conditions exist.

Frankly, it is a challenging task, and it currently takes up most of my time. We work in a highly regulated environment and have different corporate cultures. Some are flexible and typical of startups, while others are more traditionally corporate. People are accustomed to working in different ways. The goal is not to replace one culture with another, but to find common ground and establish shared rules. It is a slow process, but without it, we cannot build a unified team.

We don’t have an overall talent shortage. Quite the opposite: We need fewer people who can accomplish more. Sometimes we have difficulty finding skilled tradespeople, such as technicians and electricians. We provide them with training and high-quality equipment and materials to improve their efficiency. In general, we try to develop people within the company. But we also selectively bring in foreign experts when we need specialized expertise. This balance allows us to preserve the company’s culture while bringing in new skills and knowledge from outside.

I use an AI voice recorder and a bot assistant in work chats to record meetings and conversations. Sometimes I ask the AI directly, “What did I do wrong?” It can be a surprisingly objective sounding board. For me, it is a practical way to recognize my mistakes. I first use the tool to identify them myself and then discuss them with the team. AI is not a substitute for management decisions. It is more like a mirror.

We use SHL tests, including verbal reasoning tests. For us, this is not a formality. If a candidate scores poorly, we don’t hire them, no matter how convincing they may have seemed in the interview. The tests provide an objective basis for our decisions and help prevent us from hiring candidates simply because we like them. In a company that needs fewer but more capable people, the cost of a bad hire is high.

I majored in computer science, and my degree is in systems integration. So, essentially, I work in my field. As one of my teachers used to say, “A mathematician has one area of knowledge, a computer scientist has two, and a physicist has all three: mathematics, programming and physics.” You can see that clearly in telecom. It is not purely software. It sits at the intersection of hardware, software and energy. All the companies I have built have been closer to the physical world than the purely digital one, and telecom is an ideal field for that.

The biggest challenge, again, is corporate culture. But this is a different level, where the financial sector, an IT corporation, the realities of doing business in Kazakhstan and Nasdaq’s regulatory requirements all intersect. An entrepreneur is used to making quick decisions independently. In a public holding company, you operate within established procedures and are accountable to the market. I took on this challenge deliberately, and I see it as part of my growth rather than a constraint.

Tennis is a great way to unwind. It is an exciting sport that demands your full attention. And, of course, spending time with family and friends is important. Entrepreneurs are constantly thinking about work. At the gym, for example, it can be difficult to clear your mind. I go early in the morning, listen to music and exercise, but work messages still keep coming in. That is why it is important to have an activity that requires your full attention. For me, that is tennis.