Kazakh national operator Kazakhtelecom (KT) has presented a proposal for implementation of 5G technology in the country, which it says will allow digital transformation of the economy and open up opportunities to create new digital services in Kazakhstan in the near future. The ‘5G Concept’ document was prepared in 2021-22 by the telco under an agreement with the government, in accordance with the previous instruction of the Prime Minister dated 21 May 2019 to develop an Action Plan for 5G implementation.

Detailed terms of reference were developed and approved including more than 250 points in eleven areas of research and analytics, with the participation of around 40 specialists, adding recent proposals such as disabling 2G/3G networks, introducing Open RAN and switching existing networks to virtual RAN (vRAN). KT’s Chief Innovation Officer Nurlan Meirmanov said that the 5G Concept deals with all aspects related to the implementation of 5G, such as frequency allocation, data speed evolution, impact on the economy, ‘revolutionary’ capabilities (i.e. previously unavailable via existing technology), combating ‘radiophobia’ amongst the population, security issues, financing and regulation, among others.

Various options for usage of frequency bands were presented, as well as proposals for moving away from strategic dependence on foreign equipment manufacturers, creating opportunities for innovation from new manufacturers, reducing costs, and also preparing conditions for import substitution. To this end, several options for a phased transition to Open RAN have been developed, including specifications for the necessary resources and the level of government support. Other 5G Concept sections address Cloud-based 5G-as-a-Service (5GaaS), the ‘all-as-a-service (XaaS)’ model and the Network-Slice-as-a-Service (NSaaS) layer.

TeleGeography notes that a 5G 3500MHz spectrum auction in Kazakhstan is imminent, to support plans to launch 5G services in major cities by end-2022. Auction rules were registered with the Ministry of Justice at the end of February, and the chairman of the Telecommunications Committee indicated in March that the process could be launched by end-May, although this schedule has been delayed. 5G network pilots are in progress, including those of KT’s mobile subsidiaries Kcell and Tele2-Altel.