The communication sector in Kazakhstan is a sphere of considerable potential growth and one of the most promising sectors for the attraction of foreign investment.
In the Republic honeycomb, paging, and trunking communications are developed and Internet and telefax are available. The honeycomb communication service uses the AMPS standard and is increasingly in 10 regional centers. Growing number of customers in 12 cities and towns use personal pager services within the Republic.
For the time being, three blocks of enterprises have been formed in the sphere of communications - telecommunications, TV and radio broadcasting and postal services.
There are a number of state-owned enterprises operating in these sectors, the most important of which are:
- The State enterprise of postal service (RGPPS);
- The Republican special communications center (RUSS);
- The Republican State Inspectorate of Telecommunication (RGIE);
- The Almaty radiotelevision transmitting station.
Kazakhtelecom is active in the Kazakhstan market for services related to local and international telecommunication. It is the national operator and is the owner of a network of general-use telecommunications facilities and is licensed to offer all kinds of communication within the Republic (with the exclusive right to offer services of international and long-distance communication). Using its' ground network of telecommunications and satellite communications the company offers the following kinds of services - local, long-distance and international telephone communication, telegraph, telex, data transmission, honeycomb, paging communication, satellite communication, and wire broadcasting.
Kazakhtelecom includes all oblast and urban telecommunication enterprises, as well as 12 large enterprises such as the National Telegraph, Almaty Broadcasting Station, the National Trunking Line, and others. Also, Kazakhtelecom is the founder of joint ventures with foreign investors. The French company Alcatel is its biggest partner.
The commissioning of a ground satellite communication system in February 1992 in Almaty, with the Australian Telstra Corporation and in June 1994 in Astana, with the German Deteline Corporation, enabled Kazakhstan to independently set up international telephone channels to non-CIS countries for the first time. The rapid development of this sphere has already allowed Kazakhstan to set up 804 direct international channels with 22 countries of the world such as Australia, Germany, Israel, Turkey, France, England and the USA. Channels with other countries have also been opened through Australia and Germany.
In 1994, the German branch of the ALCATEL company, using a German credit line, installed a complex of international (1.5 thousand channels), long-distance (8 thousand channels) and local (15 thousand numbers) links in Astana.
The joint Kazakhstani-German enterprise DECATEL has completed the construction of and commissioned the Alekseyevka-Astana-Karaganda light-fiber line. Consequently, the foundation of a digital long-distance network of Kazakhstan communication has now been laid.
The communication network has been developing based on up-to-the-minute systems and techniques by communication enterprises using their own resources and foreign credits, allocated using the KFV line of the Deutsche Bank, and the Turkish Eximbank under government guarantees. The works under the Updating and Development of Telecommunication Network project implemented using the German credit line have cost 350.0 million DM and are more or less finished. Under this project, 10 automatic long-distance stations with a capacity for 22.0 thousand channels have been created.
In the field of telecommunications, the National Information Supertrunkline Project has been implemented. This allows the Republic to generate long-distance and international networks of communication for transmission of all kinds of information, based on up-to-date light-fiber technique. As a result of this Kazakhstan receives outlets to the Pacific Ocean, China and Europe. The overall length of the trunkline is 9000 km. Twenty countries are involved in this project. For more information visit www.kazakhtelecom.kz
