Internet and e-commerce industry in Mongolia
Today we are to consider the Internet and e-commerce infrastructure of a landlocked country located in East and Central Asia, Mongolia. The country, that has its capital in Ulaanbaatar, borders Russia to the north and the People's Republic of China to the south, east and west, although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan. Mongolia represents the 19th largest and the most sparsely populated independent country in the world, with a population of slightly over 3 million people. Mongolia's economy is focused on agriculture and mining. Mongolia has rich mineral resources, and copper, coal, molybdenum, tin, tungsten, and gold account for a large part of industrial production.
Meantime technological progress has also reached Mongolia. Some technology companies from nearby countries, like South Korea and China, have started to open offices in Mongolia. Those companies have tended to focus on software development rather than hardware production.
The telecommunication and Internet market represents a small but growing sector in Mongolia. Government initiatives, like the e-Mongolia National Program proclaimed in the mid-1990s, are helping to spread Internet awareness and usage throughout the country. Since then there has been successful liberalization of all market segments, partial privatization of the fixed-line incumbent operator, Mongolia Telecom, and establishment of an independent regulator.
A number of telecommunications companies and internet service providers have been appearing as a result in of increasing competition in the internet and phone market, especially amid Mobicom Corporation and Magicnet, the largest cellphone and ISP operators in Mongolia respectively.
Competition is in place for both fixed and mobile telephony, including local, long-distance, and international, Internet, VoIP, and VSATs.
Meantime, dial-up still remains the main way of Internet connection, although wireless and broadband internet, recently introduced, has been developing rapidly.
As it was already said, the largest Internet Service Provider of Mongolia is MagicNet that appeared to be the first datacommunication network operator. The company was founded in 1992 as a state owned company (Mongolian Data Company (MDC) and privatised in 1994. MDC is to 90% owned by its employees. Currently, company offers Internet services by its subsidiary Magicnet.
The second largest Mongolia’s ISP is represented by MobiNet It has begun by Mongolian first mobile operator Mongolian-Japanese cooperated Mobicom corporation created their Internet service department in 2001.
The other large Internet services providers in Mongolia are represented by the followings (according to www.ostamyy.com):
• Micom - that was established in 1998 as a subsidiary of Mongolia Telecom. It was the second data communication service provider in Mongolia. Commercial Internet services starts in March 1999
• Digicom - delivers Internet VoIP and Video Conferencing Service Provider, Wireless Broadband.
• Railcom – delivers ADSL services with connection speed of 128 Kbps at the prices around $19.
• Bodicom - has been offering Internet services since January 1999. The customer base has developed from 96 customers in 1999 to 650 customers in December 2002. Bodicom is constructing its own network in Ulaanbaatar and also has its own international internet gateway with a capacity of 4 Mbit/s.
• MCSCom - represents an International VoIP Wholesale Provider, Voip Termination ISP. MCSCOM is the first E-commerce ISP in Mongolia. MCS Electronics is constructing its own network in Ulaanbaatar and also has its small international internet gateway with a capacity of 2 Mbit/s.
• Sky C & C as a branch of Mongolian second cellural and CDMA operator SkyTel company established in 2001represents a reliable internet service provider in Mongolia.
• Hans Comm provides communication cable and internet network.
• AIAX Broadband - provides high speed internet in Mongolia.
• Datacom - is an internet service provider in Mongolia.
• Incomnet is one of the VSAT service provider in Mongolia, this company established in 2002 and started their Wireless Broadband service by 802.11a/b in 5.2-5.8Ghz frequency range.
• Ulusnet - represents Mongolian first WiMax service provider. This company also Mobicom company's one branch company. Company using also Airspan company products. Airspan's WiMax forum certified WiMax solution MacroMax is used for providing Ulaanbaatar to cover whole city via wireless.
• Wirelesscom started in 2004. Their major service is only broadband wireless service. Wirelesscom provides up to 3Mbps speed by American Airspan vendor.
The country cod top level domain (ccTLD) for Mongolia is .mn administered by Datacom. The domain name is composed of the consonants in the first syllable of the country name. According to www.rwgusa.com/mn.htm, two years registration agreement is $170. Meanwhile, there are no any special requirements or restrictions for the registration under the domain.
It’s also possible to be registered directly under second-level domains. However, some of them are reserved for special use, like:
• .gov.mn - government institutions
• .edu.mn - educational institutions
• .org.mn - non-profit organisations
.mn domain name is also increasingly used in US state Minnesota, but it still is not widely recognized.
Internet usage in Mongolia has grown rapidly over the last few years, having surged by 1,000% for the decade. Despite such an enormous growth the volume of Internet subscribers in the country reached 10.9 % by the end of 2009. That may be compared to 1.1% in 2000 and 10.3% in 2007.
E-commerce sector in Mongolia is still to be devployed. However, the progress is obvious thanks to government support and incentives. Thus, government’s e-Mongolia National Program has surged the level of Internet and related services awareness amid people.
The other good example is Tentative Program on E-commerce in Mongolia, offered in early 2000s. The main goal of this program was to increase competitiveness of business entities through the main advantage of e-commerce that creates a new environment where traders do business irrelevant of location and time. The creators of the program settled the following targets:
• to create access to e-commerce for the capital city, all centers of aimags, and 70% of all somons (administrative units) by year of 2012.
• to increase business volume of B2B (business to business) by 10% and of B2C (business to consumer) by 20%.
• to make the e-commerce as a main tool for increase foreign trade turnover.
Actually, these goals have been partially springed to life.
Opensteppe.com is one of the good examples of businesses in Mongolia, successfully delivering e-commerce solutions to the public. OpenSteppe is developing several concepts for the implememantaion of eCommerce activities from Mongolia, such as:
• Shop Mongolia - an online shop devoted to unique Mongolian products shipped to all over the world.
• e-Buy - an auction site aimed at the local Mongolian market enabling customers to sell and purchase items in an online environment.
Despite, Internet penetration in Mongolia is very low in comparison with other countries, Internet services have been developed successfully. Besides e-commerce sector has also been in progress at present. All the good signs of Internet and e-commerce infrastructure development are mainly owing to the active government support.
Meantime technological progress has also reached Mongolia. Some technology companies from nearby countries, like South Korea and China, have started to open offices in Mongolia. Those companies have tended to focus on software development rather than hardware production.
The telecommunication and Internet market represents a small but growing sector in Mongolia. Government initiatives, like the e-Mongolia National Program proclaimed in the mid-1990s, are helping to spread Internet awareness and usage throughout the country. Since then there has been successful liberalization of all market segments, partial privatization of the fixed-line incumbent operator, Mongolia Telecom, and establishment of an independent regulator.A number of telecommunications companies and internet service providers have been appearing as a result in of increasing competition in the internet and phone market, especially amid Mobicom Corporation and Magicnet, the largest cellphone and ISP operators in Mongolia respectively.
Competition is in place for both fixed and mobile telephony, including local, long-distance, and international, Internet, VoIP, and VSATs.
Meantime, dial-up still remains the main way of Internet connection, although wireless and broadband internet, recently introduced, has been developing rapidly.
As it was already said, the largest Internet Service Provider of Mongolia is MagicNet that appeared to be the first datacommunication network operator. The company was founded in 1992 as a state owned company (Mongolian Data Company (MDC) and privatised in 1994. MDC is to 90% owned by its employees. Currently, company offers Internet services by its subsidiary Magicnet.The second largest Mongolia’s ISP is represented by MobiNet It has begun by Mongolian first mobile operator Mongolian-Japanese cooperated Mobicom corporation created their Internet service department in 2001. The other large Internet services providers in Mongolia are represented by the followings (according to www.ostamyy.com):
• Micom - that was established in 1998 as a subsidiary of Mongolia Telecom. It was the second data communication service provider in Mongolia. Commercial Internet services starts in March 1999
• Digicom - delivers Internet VoIP and Video Conferencing Service Provider, Wireless Broadband.
• Railcom – delivers ADSL services with connection speed of 128 Kbps at the prices around $19.
• Bodicom - has been offering Internet services since January 1999. The customer base has developed from 96 customers in 1999 to 650 customers in December 2002. Bodicom is constructing its own network in Ulaanbaatar and also has its own international internet gateway with a capacity of 4 Mbit/s.
• MCSCom - represents an International VoIP Wholesale Provider, Voip Termination ISP. MCSCOM is the first E-commerce ISP in Mongolia. MCS Electronics is constructing its own network in Ulaanbaatar and also has its small international internet gateway with a capacity of 2 Mbit/s.
• Sky C & C as a branch of Mongolian second cellural and CDMA operator SkyTel company established in 2001represents a reliable internet service provider in Mongolia.
• Hans Comm provides communication cable and internet network.
• AIAX Broadband - provides high speed internet in Mongolia.
• Datacom - is an internet service provider in Mongolia.
• Incomnet is one of the VSAT service provider in Mongolia, this company established in 2002 and started their Wireless Broadband service by 802.11a/b in 5.2-5.8Ghz frequency range. • Ulusnet - represents Mongolian first WiMax service provider. This company also Mobicom company's one branch company. Company using also Airspan company products. Airspan's WiMax forum certified WiMax solution MacroMax is used for providing Ulaanbaatar to cover whole city via wireless.
• Wirelesscom started in 2004. Their major service is only broadband wireless service. Wirelesscom provides up to 3Mbps speed by American Airspan vendor.
The country cod top level domain (ccTLD) for Mongolia is .mn administered by Datacom. The domain name is composed of the consonants in the first syllable of the country name. According to www.rwgusa.com/mn.htm, two years registration agreement is $170. Meanwhile, there are no any special requirements or restrictions for the registration under the domain.
It’s also possible to be registered directly under second-level domains. However, some of them are reserved for special use, like:
• .gov.mn - government institutions• .edu.mn - educational institutions
• .org.mn - non-profit organisations
.mn domain name is also increasingly used in US state Minnesota, but it still is not widely recognized.
Internet usage in Mongolia has grown rapidly over the last few years, having surged by 1,000% for the decade. Despite such an enormous growth the volume of Internet subscribers in the country reached 10.9 % by the end of 2009. That may be compared to 1.1% in 2000 and 10.3% in 2007.E-commerce sector in Mongolia is still to be devployed. However, the progress is obvious thanks to government support and incentives. Thus, government’s e-Mongolia National Program has surged the level of Internet and related services awareness amid people.
The other good example is Tentative Program on E-commerce in Mongolia, offered in early 2000s. The main goal of this program was to increase competitiveness of business entities through the main advantage of e-commerce that creates a new environment where traders do business irrelevant of location and time. The creators of the program settled the following targets:
• to create access to e-commerce for the capital city, all centers of aimags, and 70% of all somons (administrative units) by year of 2012.
• to increase business volume of B2B (business to business) by 10% and of B2C (business to consumer) by 20%.
• to make the e-commerce as a main tool for increase foreign trade turnover.
Actually, these goals have been partially springed to life.
Opensteppe.com is one of the good examples of businesses in Mongolia, successfully delivering e-commerce solutions to the public. OpenSteppe is developing several concepts for the implememantaion of eCommerce activities from Mongolia, such as:
• Shop Mongolia - an online shop devoted to unique Mongolian products shipped to all over the world. • e-Buy - an auction site aimed at the local Mongolian market enabling customers to sell and purchase items in an online environment.
Despite, Internet penetration in Mongolia is very low in comparison with other countries, Internet services have been developed successfully. Besides e-commerce sector has also been in progress at present. All the good signs of Internet and e-commerce infrastructure development are mainly owing to the active government support.
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