From broker to infrastructure: How Freedom Holding Corp. is turning telecom into the new rails of fintech

Freedom Holding Corp., a company listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange, is gradually shifting its focus from traditional fintech towards an infrastructure-based model, with telecommunications forming the foundation for widespread digital financial services. A key element of this transformation is Freedom Telecom International (FTI). FTI has partnered with e&, a major international telecoms and technology group with hundreds of millions of subscribers and an established fintech audience.

A change in the growth logic

Traditional fintech is built around applications, licenses, and user interfaces. But in developing economies, this model quickly runs into structural limitations: access to the banking system expands far more slowly than mobile connectivity. As a result, the mobile operator often becomes the first – and sometimes the only – point of entry for users into the digital economy.

Freedom Holding Corp. CEO Timur Turlov has repeatedly said that the company increasingly views financial services as part of a broader digital infrastructure.

“Finance does not exist in a vacuum – it always relies on infrastructure. Where the banking system is underdeveloped, mobile networks become the foundation for digital finance,” he has noted.

Freedom Telecom International as a strategic bridge

Within this framework, Freedom Telecom International serves as a strategic bridge between Freedom Holding’s financial expertise and the “last mile” – mobile connectivity through which millions of users can access payments, transfers, and other basic financial services.

The memorandum of understanding signed between FTI and technology group e& reflects precisely this infrastructure-driven approach. The document sets a framework for joint work in fintech, digital financial services, and telecom innovation across partner markets.

For Freedom Holding, this means access to e&’s large-scale telecom ecosystem, which serves more than 250 million subscribers, including millions of fintech users. For e&, it offers an opportunity to leverage the financial and investment expertise of a group already operating across multiple jurisdictions.

Commenting on the company’s international development strategy, Timur Turlov has stressed that such alliances make it possible to think not in terms of individual markets, but in terms of platforms.

“We are interested not simply in exporting financial products, but in creating solutions that can scale through partnerships and adapt to local conditions,” he said.

Why telecom is the new “rails” of fintech

The partnership with e& illustrates why telecommunications are becoming critically important to the future of fintech. In regions with a high proportion of underserved populations, mobile operators already possess what many fintech startups lack: trust, scale, data, and stable channels for customer interaction.

In addition, telecom groups have historically managed complex systems for billing, identification, and micropayments – that is, the very elements that underpin digital finance.

By integrating into this layer through FTI and cooperation with e&, Freedom Holding is effectively betting on an infrastructure role.

“Those who own the rails don’t have to run all the trains themselves, but they determine how the ecosystem is structured,” Turlov has noted when discussing the long-term value of infrastructure assets.

Infrastructure logic instead of product logic

Unlike many fintech companies that start with a single product and then look for ways to scale, Freedom Holding Corp. is building the foundation upfront – through telecom partnerships, interoperable technologies, and access to distributed user networks.

This approach reduces dependence on individual licenses and regulatory regimes and makes it possible to operate in regions where the traditional banking model is either too costly or unable to keep pace with digitalization.

“Infrastructure is a long-term investment. It doesn’t always deliver immediate results, but it creates sustainable value,” the head of Freedom Holding has emphasized.

The convergence of telecommunications and financial services is emerging as one of the key trends in developing markets. The partnership between Freedom Telecom International and technology group e& fits into this logic, representing an attempt to secure a position at the intersection of these industries before telecom – finance alliances become the norm.