Mongolia possesses a liberalized and competitive telecoms market served by multiple competing players and an incumbent operator that no longer holds a dominant share of its market.

Operators have focused on expanding network reach and capacity to support the growing popularity of fixed and mobile broadband services, doubling the amount of fibre optic cable in Mongolia within the past five years alone and extending into Mongolia’s sparsely populated rural regions.

The growing popularity of mobile broadband has underpinned overall broadband growth and coincided with a contraction in fibre subscriptions, suggesting some end users are migrating from fibre to mobile. Broadband growth in 2016 will continue to be underpinned by mobile, consolidating Mongolia’s position as a “mobile first” telecoms market and shaping the future direction of Mongolia’s developing digital economy.

High mobile penetration levels in Mongolia are indicative of healthy competition although the market is undergoing transition. Overall mobile penetration levels as well as mobile voice traffic is contracting while 3G accounts for an increasing proportion of total subscriptions, with the total number of 3G subscriptions expected to overtake 2G subscriptions by 2017.

Key Developments:
– Mongolia Telecom no longer holds the largest market share in the fixed line market
– Operators are investing in fibre to support future broadband growth
– Total mobile voice minutes contracted for the first time in 2015
– Mobile represents the dominant share of total broadband subscriptions
– Mongolia has emerged as a “mobile first” country
– 3G subscriptions expected to overtake 2G by 2017