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In 2005, when the World Bank started to support the development of the information and communications technology (ICT) sector in rural Mongolia, less than 30 percent of the soum (district) center villages had reliable telecommunications, even though one-third of Mongolia’s population live in such small centers. With World Bank financed subsidies provided to private sector operators to motivate the expansion of their coverage area, all 335 soums have been provided with mobile voice service, and a satellite-based network of public telephones serves herders in remote areas beyond the mobile network. Additionally, 34 prime soum centers (selected based on population, availability of commercial power and fiber optic connectivity) have broadband Internet access for public and private users, schools are connected at discounted rates, and there is wider access to Internet cafés.
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Overview
In Mongolia, access to telecommunications services has been extremely limited, especially in the remote and sparsely populated areas. Some of the challenges include the rugged geography and the nomadic lifestyle of the rural population as well as government ownership and incumbent control of the long-distance transmission network. To tackle these challenges, GPOBA support was used to provide subsidies for the expansion of ICT services into rural areas and to manage and finance several “least-cost” subsidy competitions. The recipients of subsidies were private operators that are responsible for installing and operating the rural voice and Internet services. This approach managed to harness the power of the private sector by providing incentives to deliver services in rural areas to low-income communities.
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Access to telecommunications services has been extremely limited in the remote and sparsely populated areas of Mongolia. Several factors have conspired against achieving universal access on a purely commercial basis—the country’s vast and challenging geography, the nomadic lifestyle of the rural population, government ownership and incumbent control of the long-distance transmission network. As first steps in rolling out a universal access program, two pilot projects are bringing phone service to remote herder communities and both mobile phone and Internet services to rural villages.