Mobile operators Tele2/Altel and Kcell, members of the Kazakhtelecom Group, continue to actively implement the 250+ project to provide broadband access for about 1,000 rural settlements across the country with 600,000 population.
The 250+ project has united the efforts of all three local mobile operators. The project is aimed at building broadband infrastructure in rural communities with a population of over 250 people. It is expected that, by the end of 2020, 93.5% of rural residents will be covered by broadband Internet access.
To date, a total of 78 rural communities (RC) have been connected by Kcell to high-speed mobile Internet under the project. Also 71 base stations were upgraded and redeployed and 7 new base stations were installed.
“The rural communities do not just get broadband access. As part of the project, they gain access to digital government services, remote learning, mobile banking, telemedicine, which is vital for those living in the rural outback. This will enable to bridge the digital divide between rural and urban areas and change the country’s social landscape. Our goal is to ensure maximum accessibility of the services to the population. The 250+ project will become one of the drivers for the development of Kazakhstan’s economy,” said Askar Yesserkegenov, Chief Technical Officer at Kcell JSC.
Tele2/Altel also actively continues its work on planning, design and construction of base stations in 250+ RCs. Among their priority tasks is to provide broadband Internet connection in areas that had no mobile connection at all.
“As we install our base stations in rural settlements, we feel proud and share the joy with the residents who had no mobile service at all due to living in remote and hard to access areas,” says Bolatbek Tolkunov, deputy Technical Director at Tele2/Altel, “So, for us it is often an engineering challenge to find the most effective and optimal solution”.
Just a few days ago, operator installed a base station in the village of Zimovye (East Kazakhstan) which is a home to 259 people. To accomplish this task, the carrier has developed a special solution to provide connectivity via satellite which is now undergoing final tests. It is expected that mobile communication services will become available to the residents of Zimovye in a matter of days.
The 250+ project is of particular importance for the country, especially given the quarantine measures and transition of most of the business processes and communications to a remote format.
A memorandum on implementation of the 250+ project was signed in February this year. That was also when a strategy for joint construction and operation of the network was agreed. On October 2, the project participants signed a network sharing agreement.