Kazakhstan has one of the lowest mobile Internet tariffs in the world. The country has ranked among the Top Five in the global Internet Accessibility Index. India ranked first in this index with one gigabyte of mobile data worth just US$0.4, followed by Israel, where an average of US$0.6 is paid for the same amount of mobile Internet data. Russia is in third place, while Sri Lanka ranks fourth. Residents of Kazakhstan pay an average of US$0.9 per one gigabyte of mobile Internet, which is equivalent to 385 tenge.
“Indeed, Kazakhstan has one of the cheapest access to the mobile Internet, in other countries it is slightly more expensive. Domestic mobile operators continuously improve network quality and increase coverage, but they also incur relatively high costs in US dollars because the equipment and software are imported,” Dinara Inkarbekova, Independent Director, Member of Management Board of a Mobile Network Operator.
To date, the Internet has become the main tool of communication. Over the last year alone, the demand for broadband services has grown significantly. By the beginning of last month, Kazakhstan had over 16 million mobile users with Internet access. There has also been a marked increase in investment in information and communications. According to the results of the first quarter of this year, the amount of investment in the industry rose by 63.2 percent.
Translation by Assem Zhanmukhanova
Editing by Galiya Khassenkhanova
