Communications in Mongolia
Encyclopedia
Information communication technologies (ICT) in Mongolia face unique challenges. Because Mongolia is sparsely populated and a significant portion of the population still lives a nomadic lifestyle, it has been difficult for many traditional ICTs to make headway into Mongolian society. Wireless technologies have had greater success and mobile phones are becoming increasingly common, even in rural areas. Wireless local loop
is another technology that has helped Mongolia increase accessibility to telecommunications and bypass fixed-line infrastructure. Other problems relating to the ICT infrastructure include poverty and the fact that Mongolia is a landlocked country. Mongolia relies on fiber optic communications with its Chinese and Russian neighbors and a significant portion of the population is still too poor to afford mobile phones.
is the national telecommunications company.
Telephone system:
(MTC) and the Mongolian Railway Authority. MTC is a joint venture with Korea Telecom and partially publicly owned. MTC leases fiber-optic
lines from the Mongolian Railway Authority and connects to all aimags and soums. There are over 175,000 fixed-line phones in Mongolia, though this number is slowly decreasing. The majority of MTC subscribers are in Ulaanbataar.
Mobile Operators:
Mobile Users: Mobicom: 1,050,000 Skytel: 255,000 Unitel: 375,000 G-Mobile: 175,000 (2009).
In end of 2009, the total number of mobile users was estimated at 1,850,000.
(WLL) technology. It provides phone service resembling that of landlines, but uses technology similar to mobile phones. There are currently five licensed WLL providers, though there only appear to be three companies actually offering service.
has 20 FM stations, including foreign radio stations BBC World Service
, VOA, and Inner Mongolian Radio. In the whole country there are 5 longwave broadcasting stations, the most powerful at Ulaanbaatar with 1000 KW.
DDishTV LLC broadcasts major mongolia
n channels and some international channels throughout whole Mongolia and other Asian countries via Ku-Band Satellite. For that service it is necessary to have a dish and special box. They provide also VSAT Internet connections especially in rural area of Mongolia.
The country Top level domain of Mongolia is .mn
independent country in the world.
Many libraries and schools
provide internet access, including some mobile providers that travel between rural populations.
The Asian Development Bank
has an initiative to develop ICT technologies to "boost access to high-quality education for disadvantaged and remote populations in Mongolia, through a grant assistance approved for US$1 million." The goal is to take advantage of newer technologies to improve access to information for about 10,000 students at 36 schools.
Wireless local loop
Wireless local loop , is a term for the use of a wireless communications link as the "last mile / first mile" connection for delivering plain old telephone service and/or broadband Internet to telecommunications customers....
is another technology that has helped Mongolia increase accessibility to telecommunications and bypass fixed-line infrastructure. Other problems relating to the ICT infrastructure include poverty and the fact that Mongolia is a landlocked country. Mongolia relies on fiber optic communications with its Chinese and Russian neighbors and a significant portion of the population is still too poor to afford mobile phones.
Telephone
, there are 404,400 main lines in use. The International Dialling Code is +976. The Mongolia Telecom CompanyMongolia Telecom Company
The Mongolia Telecom Company was created in 1992 after the Ministry of Communications from communist times was restructured and phone services were privatized. The majority of shares in the company are still held by the state, 40% are owned by , and 5.56% are publicly traded....
is the national telecommunications company.
Telephone system:
- domestic: 6.5 Telephones per thousand persons
- international
- Satellite earth station: IntersputnikIntersputnikThe Intersputnik International Organization of Space Communications commonly known as Intersputnik is an international satellite communications services organization founded on November 15, 1971, in Moscow by the Soviet Union along with a group of eight formerly socialist states...
(Indian Ocean Region) IntelsatIntelsatIntelsat, Ltd. is a communications satellite services provider.Originally formed as International Telecommunications Satellite Organization , it was—from 1964 to 2001—an intergovernmental consortium owning and managing a constellation of communications satellites providing international broadcast...
, Asiasat-1 - Land line: ERMC (cable system)ERMC (cable system)ERMC or Europe-Russia-Mongolia-China is an overland telecommunications cable system linking Asia and Europe via Russia and Mongolia. It provides an alternative, shorter path to submarine communications cables. The system's capacity can be increased from an as-built 40 Gbit/s to 400 Gbit/s....
.
- Satellite earth station: Intersputnik
Land lines
There are two landline telephone companies in Mongolia: Mongolia Telecom CompanyMongolia Telecom Company
The Mongolia Telecom Company was created in 1992 after the Ministry of Communications from communist times was restructured and phone services were privatized. The majority of shares in the company are still held by the state, 40% are owned by , and 5.56% are publicly traded....
(MTC) and the Mongolian Railway Authority. MTC is a joint venture with Korea Telecom and partially publicly owned. MTC leases fiber-optic
Optical fiber
An optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made of a pure glass not much wider than a human hair. It functions as a waveguide, or "light pipe", to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber. The field of applied science and engineering concerned with the design and application of...
lines from the Mongolian Railway Authority and connects to all aimags and soums. There are over 175,000 fixed-line phones in Mongolia, though this number is slowly decreasing. The majority of MTC subscribers are in Ulaanbataar.
Mobile phones
Mobile phones are very popular in the city as well as the countryside. Especially in the countryside, the government is preferring the installation of cell phone base stations over laying land lines, as cell phone base stations are easier to install. Mongolia's Communication Authority has announced a plan to connect all sum center and a number of other settlements to cell phone services.Mobile Operators:
- Mobicom CorporationMobicom CorporationMobicom Corporation is the largest mobile phone operator in Mongolia.It was established as a joint Mongolian-Japanese venture on 18th March of 1996, to be the first Mongolian cell phone service. It was founded by Newcom Group, Sumitomo, and KDDI...
(GSM) - The first mobile operator - SkytelSkytel (Mongolia)Skytel LLC is one of Mongolia’s leading mobile phone operators that currently holds a quarter of the mobile market. With over 500,000 active subscribers and 400 employees of which 90% have Bachelor’s degrees and higher educations the company functions on CDMA2000 1x & EVDO Rev.A technology...
(CDMA) - UnitelUnitel (Mongolia)Unitel is a Mongolian Corporate Group of ICT companies. It was founded on December 23, 2005 as BSB consortium as GSM mobile phone operator, and began operations on June 26th of 2006...
(GSM) - G-MobileG-MobileG-Mobile is, , Mongolian's newest mobile phone operator. It is focusing its operations in rural areas. It uses CDMA2000 at 450 MHz and provides internet services with cell phones as modem or proper modem....
(CDMA) - Established in 2007, it is focusing on development in rural areas
Mobile Users: Mobicom: 1,050,000 Skytel: 255,000 Unitel: 375,000 G-Mobile: 175,000 (2009).
In end of 2009, the total number of mobile users was estimated at 1,850,000.
Wireless local loop (WLL) use in Mongolia
In order to overcome issues relating to distance and lack of traditional infrastructure in telecommunications Mongolia has utilized wireless local loopWireless local loop
Wireless local loop , is a term for the use of a wireless communications link as the "last mile / first mile" connection for delivering plain old telephone service and/or broadband Internet to telecommunications customers....
(WLL) technology. It provides phone service resembling that of landlines, but uses technology similar to mobile phones. There are currently five licensed WLL providers, though there only appear to be three companies actually offering service.
Providers include
- Mongolia Telecom CompanyMongolia Telecom CompanyThe Mongolia Telecom Company was created in 1992 after the Ministry of Communications from communist times was restructured and phone services were privatized. The majority of shares in the company are still held by the state, 40% are owned by , and 5.56% are publicly traded....
: WLL project a joint venture with LG Electronics Company of South Korea, 8,768 users, covers Darkhan, Erdenet, Nalaikh, Choibalsan, and Ulanbaatar. It also provides 450 MHz coverage in the following aimags: Orkhon, Darkhan Uul, Dornod, Arkhangai, Bayan-Ulgii, Bulgan, Hovd, Huvsgul, Zavkhan, and Uvs. - MobicomMobiComMobiCom, the International Conference on Mobile Computing and Networking, is a series of annual conferences sponsored by ACM SIGMOBILE dedicated to addressing the challenges in the areas of mobile computing and wireless and mobile networking...
: Covers Ulaanbaatar and areas near the city, 13,400 users. - Skytel: Covers Ulaanbaatar and rural Mongolia (area not specified), and has 22,000 users.
Radio
UlaanbaatarUlaanbaatar
Ulan Bator or Ulaanbaatar is the capital and largest city of Mongolia. An independent municipality, the city is not part of any province, and its population as of 2008 is over one million....
has 20 FM stations, including foreign radio stations BBC World Service
BBC World Service
The BBC World Service is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays...
, VOA, and Inner Mongolian Radio. In the whole country there are 5 longwave broadcasting stations, the most powerful at Ulaanbaatar with 1000 KW.
Television
Mongolian TV Broadcasting started on September 27, 1967 with the start of Mongolian National Television.Television Stations
- National TelevisionTelevisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
broadcast stations: Mongolian National BroadcasterMongolian National BroadcasterThe Mongolian National Broadcaster is the official, state-funded television channel in Mongolia.-History:On September 27, 1967, the Mongolian National Television started broadcasts, and with it started Mongolian TV Broadcasting... - Commercial TelevisionTelevisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
broadcast stations:- UBSUlaanbaatar Broadcasting SystemUlaanbaatar Broadcasting System , or UBS, is a television broadcaster in Mongolia....
- Channel 25
- TV5TV5 MongoliaTV5 Mongolia, or TV5, is a television broadcasting station in Mongolia.The station works closely with the Mongolian National Broadcaster and is financed by advertising, sponsoring, and government subsidies. The program is also available in streaming format online for a fee. This access method is...
- TV9TV9 (Mongolia)TV9 Mongolia, or TV9, is a television broadcasting station in Mongolia.TV9 became the first channel in Mongolia to broadcast 24 hours a day. It has contracted correspondents in all 21 aimags.-Radio:TV-9 operates a radio station on FM 103.6...
- TMTM TelevisionTM Television , or TM, is a television broadcaster in Mongolia....
- SBNSBN TelevisionSupervision Broadcasting Network , or SBN, is a television channel in Mongolia.-External links:*...
- NTVNTV (Mongolia)-History:New Television , or NTV, is a television broadcaster in Mongolia. It was founded in 2006 and is currently employing about 70 people. Its TV broadcast is mostly in Mongolian with occasional shows in English including one of Mongolia's few English-speaking news teams.NTV is the fourth most...
- TV8
- C1C1 Television-History:C1 was founded in June 2005. According to the station, it is the first in Mongolia to use fully digital video processing.- TV Programming :C1 Television broadcasts a variety of programming. The following are noteworthy:...
- Eagle TVEagle TVEagle TV is a television broadcaster in Mongolia. The station focuses on independent news, uncensored live audience feedback, and Protestant Christian programming.- History :...
- Edutainment TV (Боловсрол суваг)
- Mongol TV (first HD TV, New Mongol TV)
- UBS
Satellite Television
DDishTV LLCDDishTV LLC
DDISHTV is a Mongolian satellite TV and Internet provider company led by Ganbold Dendev .A member of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union , DDISHTV was established in January 2008 to carry out Mongolian government’s proposal to broadcast more television channels in the countryside in high quality...
DDishTV LLC broadcasts major mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
n channels and some international channels throughout whole Mongolia and other Asian countries via Ku-Band Satellite. For that service it is necessary to have a dish and special box. They provide also VSAT Internet connections especially in rural area of Mongolia.
Cable TV operators
- Sansar CaTV - Space
- Khiimori CaTV - Wind horse
- SuperVision CaTV
- Suljee CaTV - Network
- New Orange CaTV
- MNBC CaTV
- Talst CaTV
- DDishTV LLCDDishTV LLCDDISHTV is a Mongolian satellite TV and Internet provider company led by Ganbold Dendev .A member of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union , DDISHTV was established in January 2008 to carry out Mongolian government’s proposal to broadcast more television channels in the countryside in high quality...
Internet
Internet Usage has grown rapidly in the last few years. In 2000, there were 30,000 users, but there are more than 268,300The country Top level domain of Mongolia is .mn
.mn
.mn is the Internet country code top-level domain for Mongolia. It is administered by .MN, Registry, Datacom.The domain name is composed of the consonants in the first syllable of the country name. The .MN registry is operated under the Thick Registry model. Administrative, Billing, Technical and...
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
Dial-Up is still the main system, although Wireless and Broadband Internet are recently being introduced.- Boldsoft (Broadband any technology)
- Digicom(FTTH)http://www.digicom.mn
- RailCom
- MagicnetMagicnetMagicnet is the first ISP provider company in Mongolia and holds significant market share in terms of providing internet access in Mongolia.-External links:*...
- Mobinet
- Micom
- Bodicom
- MCSCom
- Sky C & C
- Sansar Internet
- Hans Comm
- AIAX Broadband
- UlusNet
- STX CitiNet
Satellite Service Providers
- Incomnet LLC http://www.incomnet.mn/en Incomnet LLC has been providing service of data communications network arrangement in the vast territory of MongoliaMongoliaMongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
and carrying out satellite telephone call and satellite internet services in remote areas since its establishment in 2001. Incomnet LLC the first private local company of Mongolia which has commenced to launch the above mentioned services.
Constraints
Mongolia is the most sparsely populatedPopulation
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
independent country in the world.
Initiatives
Citizens Information Service Centers (CISC) have been established in Ulaanbataar and six Aimags that are equipped to allow nomadic rural populations to receive internet access.Many libraries and schools
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
provide internet access, including some mobile providers that travel between rural populations.
The Asian Development Bank
Asian Development Bank
The Asian Development Bank is a regional development bank established on 22 August 1966 to facilitate economic development of countries in Asia...
has an initiative to develop ICT technologies to "boost access to high-quality education for disadvantaged and remote populations in Mongolia, through a grant assistance approved for US$1 million." The goal is to take advantage of newer technologies to improve access to information for about 10,000 students at 36 schools.
Further reading
- Dorjderem, Amarbayasgalan "Public Access to Information, Mongolia's Situation Analysis" Science, Communication & Information Section Mongolian National Commission for UNESCO. No date. Accessed 20 June 2008.
- InTeC Co.Ltd; MIDAS. “Information and Communications Technology Development in Mongolia -- 2006: White Paper.” InTeC Co.Ltd and MIDAS (2006). Accessed 20 April 2008.
- Hishigsuren, Gaamaa. "Information and Communication Technology and Microfinance: Options for Mongolia." ADB Institute Discussion Paper No. 42, Feb 2006. Accessed 20 June 2008.
- Mongolia Development Gateway. "Concept of Information and Communication Technology Development of Mongolia by Year 2010." Mongolia Development Gateway. 2003. Accessed 20 June 2008.
- Park, Daniel H. “Information Technology Landscape in Mongolia.” Information Technology Landscape in Nations Around the World. American University (2003). Accessed 7 May 2008.