NASDAQ:VEON News 24 February 2025

Pakistan’s Internet Access Frontier: Fiber Optics, 5G Delays, and Starlink’s Big Promise

By January 2025, Pakistan had 116 million internet users, about 45.7% of the population. By early 2025, Pakistan had 190+ million mobile connections, roughly 75% of the population, with many people using multiple SIMs. Fixed broadband penetration remains under 2%, with about 3.6 million fixed subscriptions. Fiber backhaul is still limited, with fiber teledensity around 0.45% and only 9–11% of towers fiber-connected, well below a 40% international benchmark. Around mid-2024, 4G/3G coverage reached about 81% of the population, and more than 95% of cell sites supported 4G LTE. Pakistan has not launched commercial 5G as of 2025, with the PTA

3 August 2025

Uzbekistan’s Internet Makeover: Blazing Speeds, New Satellites, and Lingering Barriers

Uzbekistan’s internet infrastructure has shifted from slow dial-up to fiber and 4G/5G networks, with Uztelecom expanding fiber backbones and boosting international capacity to 3.2 Tbps in 2022. As of 2022, 2G networks blanket 99% of the population, 3G covers about 90%, and 4G LTE reaches roughly two-thirds of residents. In 2023, Uzbekistan began rolling out 5G with thousands of base stations, with the first phase targeting full 5G coverage in Tashkent and partial coverage in provincial centers. Uztelecom dominates fixed broadband, carrying 98% of fixed connections, while private mobile operators include Ucell, Beeline Uzbekistan, Mobiuz, and Perfectum Mobile. There were

25 June 2025

Broadband · Connectivity · Internet · NASDAQ:VEON · Satellites · Uzbekistan

Connecting the Peaks: Internet Access in Kyrgyzstan’s Digital Landscape

The World Bank–funded Digital CASA project is deploying over 2,500 km of fiber, establishing 30 backbone nodes and 200 local access points, and will connect about 4,000 public facilities nationwide to high-speed broadband. As of late 2023, 4G/LTE mobile networks cover 98.8% of Kyrgyzstan’s inhabited localities. Internet penetration reached about 79.8% of the population by early 2024, amounting to roughly 5.41 million internet users in a country of 6.8 million people. Urban areas account for about 38% of the population with dense coverage, while rural areas, home to about 62%, have slower connectivity. Kyrgyzstan’s mobile market is dominated by MegaCom

20 June 2025

Connectivity · Digital Development · Internet Access · Kyrgyzstan · NASDAQ:VEON · Technology

Wi-Fi, Wires & the Sky: The Full Picture of Internet Access in Bangladesh

As of December 2023, Bangladesh had about 131 million internet subscriptions: 118.5 million mobile and 12.9 million fixed broadband. By early 2025, an estimated 77–78 million people were online, roughly 44–45% of the population. End of 2023, Grameenphone (GP) had 82.20 million, Robi Axiata 58.67 million, Banglalink 43.48 million, and Teletalk 6.46 million mobile subscriptions, totaling about 190 million. Mid-2023 Bangladesh had about 153,400 km of fiber optic cable (≈80,600 km overhead and 72,800 km underground), with a 2022 plan to add 3,144 km of underground fiber and reach 100 Gbps per upazila by 2024. The SEA-ME-WE submarine cables connect

31 May 2025

Bangladesh · Connectivity Solutions · Internet Access · NASDAQ:VEON · Technology · Wi-Fi

State of Internet Access in Armenia: From Fiber to the Final Frontier

Armenia ended ArmenTel’s monopoly around 2005–2007, opening Armenia’s internet market to new ISPs and mobile operators. In 2013, Armenia removed the licensing regime for ISPs, allowing any company to provide internet after notifying the Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC). By 2022, more than 200 ISPs were officially registered in Armenia. In 2020, Armenia scored 88.5 out of 100 on the ITU ICT Regulatory Tracker, placing it in the advanced “fourth generation” regulation category. As of 2023, about 77% of Armenia’s population uses the internet. By 2021, 100% of Armenia’s settlements had 4G/LTE coverage. Fiber accounts for over 83% of fixed

30 May 2025

Armenia · Connectivity Challenges · Fiber Optics · Internet Access · NASDAQ:VEON · Satellite Internet

Internet Access in Algeria

As of early 2024, Algeria had about 33.5 million internet users, roughly 72.9% of the population. By January 2025, internet penetration rose to about 76.9% of the population. There were over 50 million mobile subscriptions in 2024, often exceeding the population due to multiple SIMs per user. By early 2023 Algeria had 5.12 million fixed internet subscribers, up from 3.5 million in 2020, a 45% increase and making it the second-highest in Africa and third in the Arab world. In 2023 fixed broadband penetration was about 12 subscriptions per 100 people. By April 2025 Algérie Télécom reported over 2 million

30 May 2025

Algeria · Connectivity · Digital Divide · Internet Access · NASDAQ:VEON · Technology

Internet Access Services in Kazakhstan

Kazakhtelecom accounts for roughly 60% of Kazakhstan’s telecom market by revenue in 2023 and owns major stakes in mobile operators Kcell and Tele2/Altel. Kar-Tel/Beeline Kazakhstan (VEON) holds about 28% market revenue and is a leading mobile and broadband provider. In internet traffic by autonomous networks, Kazakhtelecom is largest at around 26%, Beeline about 20%, Tele2 Kazakhstan about 19%, and Kcell about 9%, indicating a consumer market duopoly. The Digital Kazakhstan program has expanded fiber nationwide, deploying more than 20,000 kilometers of fiber by 2021 and achieving 118 cities and over 4,500 villages with broadband, covering 97.2% of the population. By

10 March 2025

Connectivity · Internet · Kazakhstan · NASDAQ:VEON · Services · Technology

Internet Access in Ukraine: Overview

Over 4,200 ISPs were registered in August 2024, with Kyivstar leading the market at about 19%, Vodafone Ukraine around 9%, and Lifecell around 5%. Ukraine has 52 active data centers and 24 IXPs, and about 63% of popular content is cached within the country. Starlink became a pivotal connectivity lifeline during the war, with SpaceX granted an official operator license as provider #1 in April 2022 and roughly 42,000 terminals in use by 2023. There were about 55.6 million active cellular connections in 2024, equal to 149% of the population. As of early 2024, median fixed broadband speed was about

24 February 2025

Connectivity · Digital Access · Internet · NASDAQ:VEON · NASDAQ:VOD · Technology · Ukraine

NASDAQ:VEON News 24 February 2025 - 3 August 2025