Telecom ecosystems in Kazakhstan and the world: Tech Hub AIFC has prepared a research “CorpUp Telecom”

The AIFC Tech Hub prepared the first analytical review of ecosystem development in Kazakhstan telecom – CorpUp Telecom. Beeline Kazakhstan and Huawei Technologies Kazakhstan were the corporate partners of the research, IDC and KPMG Caucasus and Central Asia were the expert partners.

The research contains the main trends radically changing the telecom industry, new ecosystem products of mobile operators of Kazakhstan, technologies and applications of mobile networks of the 5th generation, as well as successful cases of cooperation between operators and startups.

«Telecom is now one of the most dynamic and interesting industries in terms of changes in the telecom industry. The move of operators into beyond the core, that is, beyond their traditional services, is the main trend in telecom over the past ten years. Our aim is to introduce the reader to this trend and tell about the features of this process in Kazakhstan and the world,» Maken Ibragimov, Head of the Corporate Innovation direction of the Tech Hub AIFC.

The research is based on interviews with market experts, online survey of 112 representatives of Kazakhstan telecom companies, analysis of the development of dozens of Kazakhstan and foreign telecom operators.

The slowdown in the growth rate of new subscribers; increased competition from OTT (Over the Top) providers, such as streaming services and messengers; changing consumer habits and the resulting increase in capital expenditures of operators – all this changes the traditional business models of telecom companies and forces them to look for new growth points.

Since the 2010s, operators around the world begun to develop a product model, independently launching digital services and diversifying their business. There are two main strategies for the diversification of telecom operators: super service and ecosystem, depending on the degree of remoteness from the main business

Superservice implies  the concentration of expertise and efforts on traditional or core business, when the operator offers best-in-class solutions in telecom and develops complementary services around them. An ecosystem means entering new product niches or non-core, not necessarily related to traditional services.

«The move of telecom operators into new and previously unexplored areas is an absolute trend that our company is observing all over the world.  We can note that Kazakhstan telecom operators have moved forward  in the development of their own ecosystems. Huawei, as one of the world’s technology leaders, offers a number of tools and technologies that will greatly facilitate the process of creating new meanings and growth points for telecom companies,» Farida Toluebayeva, Head of the Department for Digital Energy and Data Center Development at Huawei Technologies Kazakhstan.

All three Kazakhstan mobile operators in Kazakhstan are actively developing their digital ecosystems in the framework of competition for subscribers, becoming full-fledged technology companies.

Beeline Kazakhstan is a clear example of this trend. It is already difficult to call the company just a telecom operator. Beeline Kazakhstan’s digital ecosystem includes now dozens of non-core products for retail and corporate clients: mobile finance, entertainment services, big data analytics, cloud technologies and the Internet of Things.

«We are investing in the future of Kazakhstan by growing and developing expertise in the country. We decided to abandon the use of third-party preparations, stop paying foreign vendors and grow a Kazakhstan star IT team few years ago. Our staff of IT specialists has reached 650 people, they have developed and launched dozens of digital products, the total audience of which exceeds 6.5 million people since then» Evgeny Nasstradin, Chief Executive Officer of Beeline Kazakhstan.

The most promising ecosystem areas are products in the field of cybersecurity, Big Data and the Internet of Things, according to a survey conducted by TechHub of the AIFC among representatives of the Kazakh telecom market.

Respondents chose the areas that have the greatest potential for synergy with startups: Big Data, the Internet of Things and Fintech.  The research will lead to dozens of cases and scenarios of cooperation between operators and startups around the world: AT&T, Telefonica, Deutsche Telekom and others.

Read the full version of the study and register for the official presentation at the link: https://corpup-telecom.aifc.kz

References:

Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) is an independent jurisdiction that started operations in 2018. In accordance with the Development Strategy until 2025, the key focus of the AIFC is to consolidate as a universal platform connecting the countries of the EAEU, Central Asia and the Caucasus. www.aifc.kz

AIFC Tech Hub is a meeting point for global startups, entrepreneurs, corporations, investors, leading industry experts, and specialists. The development of technologies in the AIFC covers programs to support startups, corporate innovations, and the venture capital market as well as specially developed rules and a regulator that allows  testing products and solutions in technology. https://tech.aifc.kz

Beeline Kazakhstan is the leader in the number of subscribers in the country and part of the VEON group (Amsterdam). Beeline is a successful company with the ambitions of a young startup and a culture of entrepreneurship. In recent years, Beeline has undergone a transformation from a traditional “telecom operator” into a technology company. Following the strategy of a digital operator, Beeline develops many digital services. The company’s portfolio includes the country’s first neobank Simply, music streaming hitter, mobile television BeeTV, as well as solutions for businesses and large industrial enterprises – from IoT (Internet of Things) to Private LTE (private cellular networks). https://beeline.kz

Huawei is a leading global supplier of infocommunication and infrastructure solutions, as well as smart devices. The main areas of its work are telecommunications networks, information technology, smart devices and cloud services, while Huawei strives to make digital technologies accessible to both businesses and end users, thereby bringing the creation of an intelligent, perfect world of communication closer. https://www.huawei.com