Postcard from Bishkek

Mobile phones are very popular in Kyrgyzstan and the area covered by the main service providers is constantly being expanded.  Mobile phone services account for almost half of the market and is the most rapidly growing sector in the industry, the number of subscribers almost doubling every year since 2002 and reaching 1.8 million subscribers in 2006 – out of a total population of just five million.  (In contrast, the number of subscribers of fixed line services is just under half a million.)   It is estimated that the mobile market has reached 30% saturation.

This rapid growth has been spurred by the appearance of new players in the market which have adopted aggressive marketing policies and expanding the geographical coverage of their networks across nearly all regions of the country.

The main companies providing services are:

• SkyMobile – operating the BITEL and Mobi brands – using GSM – the largest cellular operator in the country with over a million subscribers.  It’s client base used to be almost entirely corporate based, but the introduction of the Mobi brand extended coverage to individual uers, and the number of subscribers increased by 300% in the year following it’s introduction.
• BiMoCom operating the Megacom brand – using GSM – which, although it received its lisence as early as 1998, only began operating in 2006.  By the end of the next year, they already had over half a million subscribers.
• AkTel – operating the FONEX brand – using the CDMA 2000 1X standard – which, despite its limited geographical coverage, is the third largest provider in the republic.
• KATEL (a Kyrgyz-American joint venture) – using the DAMPS standard – was the first of the mobile companies to begin operating in Kyrgyzstan.
• Sotel – operating the Nexi brand – using CDMA 3G technology – is the youngest company in the market and offers a wider range wider range of facilities than its competitors.

Both of the main providers provide a special service which does not involve setting up a local account.  The BITEL service is called Mobicard, and the KATEL service is called K-Plus.  You buy a SIM card for your telephone which gives you a local number … and a number of credits for making calls.  When the credits run out, you purchase another card and dial the service provider- entering the serial number, and it adds the new credits to your account..

Although cellular coverage is available in most regions of the country, it is very unlikely that it will be available everywhere because the mountainous terrain means that there will always be difficult in reaching certain areas … for this a Satellite phone is necessary.    There is at least one local supplier that provides satellite phone services, and although this should work almost anywhere in Kyrgyzstan – even in the mountains, reception can be a bit poor at times.

In Bishkek and the other main cities there are many places where it si possible to purchase the cards – and even telephones.  For example, the Tsum Department Store has a dazzling array of options.