Uzbekistan Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Publication Date: December 2023

Report Pages: 94

Analyst: Stephen Marshall

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Summary
Table Of Contents

Uzbekistan’s telecoms sector makes solid progress catching up with the rest of the world

Uzbekistan’s telecom markets – both wireline and wireless – have long been playing “come from behind” in terms of their development following the country's independence from the former Soviet Union. While the government has formally adopted the principles of operating as a market economy, many elements of the old centrally planned economic model remain. This has had the effect of reducing the level of interest from foreign companies and investors in building out the necessary underlying infrastructure, which in turn has constrained the rate of growth in the country’s telecoms sector. Nevertheless, the last five years has seen the beginning of an upswing in prospects for the sector as fibre network rollouts continue out beyond the main urban centres, while the mobile market experiences some consolidation amongst the main operations to become stronger, more efficient competitors.

The fixed-line market is dominated by the incumbent state-owned provider Uztelecom, which has a much as 98% market share. With teledensity sitting at around 11%, the fixed-line segment remains relatively underdeveloped. But Uztelecom has been diligently expanding its fibre footprint across the country, and so utilisation is slowing increasing as consumers are able to take on VoIP services as part of their fibre packages. Strong growth is also present in the fixed broadband segment thanks to that same network expansion (albeit coming off a very low base), with penetration projected to reach24% by 2027 (a 5-year CAGR of 6.2%).

Despite the promising signs in the fixed markets, it is the mobile segment that continues to dominate Uzbekistan’s telecoms sector in terms of penetration, revenue, and growth. There are four major operators providing a modicum of competition; three of the four are government-owned entities although private operator Beeline Uzbekistan has been able to capture up to a third of the market. The last two Covid-affected years have proved challenging for Beeline, in particular, but its most recent operating results suggest a turnaround in the company’s fortunes is under way. Overall, the mobile market is expected to reach 100% penetration in 2023 – a 50% increase in the last five years.

This report includes the regulator's market data to April 2022, telcos' financial and operating data updates to March 2022, Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, and other recent market developments.

Key Developments:

UCell launches 5G mobile services in Tashkent.
Uzbekistan government forms a JV with Russia’s MegaFon to provide operational control of UCell.
Uzbekistan’s space agency Uzbekspace signs an MoU with LEO satellite operator OneWeb to investigate providing broadband satellite connectivity across the country.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Uztelecom, UCell, Beeline Uzbekistan, UzMobile, Mobiuz, East Telecom, Uzbekspace.

Key statistics
Regional Asia market comparison

Market characteristics
Market Leaders
Market Challengers
Market Emergents
TMI vs GDP
Mobile and mobile broadband penetration
Fixed versus mobile broadband penetration

Country overview
Telecommunications market
Regulatory environment

Regulatory authority

Ministry for Development of Information Technologies and Communications (MITC)

Spectrum
Broadband strategy

Mobile market

Mobile statistics
Mobile broadband
Mobile infrastructure

Major mobile operators

UCell
Beeline Uzbekistan
UzMobile
Universal Mobile Systems (UMS) - Mobiuz
Other mobile operators

Fixed-line broadband market

ISPs/fixed broadband operators
Other fixed broadband services

Wi-Fi
WiMAX

Digital economy

e-Government

Fixed network market

Major network operators

Uztelecom
Beeline Uzbekistan
East Telecom

Telecommunications infrastructure

Domestic infrastructure

Fibre networks

International infrastructure

Satellites
Cables

Appendix – Historic data
Glossary of abbreviations
Related reports

List of Tables

Table 1 – Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities - Uzbekistan – 2022 (e)
Table 2 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 3 – Change in the number of mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 4 – Change in the number of Beeline Uzbekistan’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2022
Table 5 – Development of Beeline Uzbekistan’s financial data (UZS billion) – 2013 – 2022
Table 6 – Development of Beeline Uzbekistan’s mobile and data revenue (UZS billion) – 2013 – 2022
Table 7 – Development of Beeline Uzbekistan’s ARPU – 2013 – 2022
Table 8 – Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 9 – Change in the number of fixed broadband subscribers by technology – 2012 – 2019
Table 10 – Fixed lines in service and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 11 – VoIP subscribers – 2012 – 2019
Table 12 – Change in Beeline Uzbekistan's fixed-line revenue – 2013 – 2021
Table 13 – International internet bandwidth – 2012 – 2020
Table 14 – Lit/Equipped international bandwidth capacity – 2014 – 2019
Table 15 – Historic - DSL broadband subscribers – 2003 – 2011
Table 16 – Historic - Fixed-line subscribers and penetration – 1997 – 2011
Table 17 – Historic - Unitel’s fixed broadband ARPU – 2011 – 2015
Table 18 – Historic - Mobile subscribers, annual change and penetration – 1997 – 2011
Table 19 – Historic - MTS (Uzdunrobita) mobile subscribers – 1998 – 2012
Table 20 – Historic - UMS mobile subscribers – 2014 – 2016
Table 21 – Historic - UCell (Coscom) mobile subscribers – 2006 – 2015

List of Charts

Chart 1 – Asia Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Leaders
Chart 2 – Asia Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Challengers
Chart 3 – Asia Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Emergents
Chart 4 – Asia – Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per capita
Chart 5 – Asia – Mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 6 – Central Asia – Mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 7 – Central Asia – Fixed and mobile broadband penetration
Chart 8 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 9 – Change in the number of mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 10 – Change in the number of Beeline Uzbekistan’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2022
Chart 11 – Development of Beeline Uzbekistan’s financial data – 2013 – 2022
Chart 12 – Development of Beeline Uzbekistan’s mobile and data revenue – 2013 – 2022
Chart 13 – Development of Beeline Uzbekistan’s ARPU – 2013 – 2022
Chart 14 – Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 15 – Change in the number of fixed broadband subscribers by technology – 2012 – 2019
Chart 16 – Fixed lines in service and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 17 – VoIP subscribers – 2012 – 2019
Chart 18 – Change in Beeline Uzbekistan's fixed-line revenue – 2013 – 2021

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1 – Map of Telecom Maturity Index global ranking among countries in Asia
Exhibit 2 – Generalised Market Characteristics by Market Segment
Exhibit 3 – Asia – Market Leaders and market developments
Exhibit 4 – Asia – Market Challengers and market developments
Exhibit 5 – Asia – Market Emergents and market developments
Exhibit 6 – Map of Uzbekistan
Exhibit 7 – Mobile operators and systems

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Uzbekistan Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Purchase this Report

Uzbekistan’s telecoms sector makes solid progress catching up with the rest of the world

Key Developments:

Companies mentioned in this report:

Key statistics

Regional Asia market comparison

Country overview

Telecommunications market

Regulatory environment

Mobile market

Fixed-line broadband market

Digital economy

Fixed network market

Telecommunications infrastructure

Appendix – Historic data

Glossary of abbreviations

Related reports

Purchase this Report

Share this Report

TMT Intelligence

A platform to scale your intelligence tasks

Research Methodology

Hot Topics

News & Views