1 April 2007 MoC 1
Annual Report 1385Policies, Plans and Progress
Amirzai SanginMinister of Communications &
ITDate: 1 April 2007
1 April 2007 MoC 2
Content
Telecom status in 2002 Telecom and ICT Policies 5- Year Plan Achievements till date Vision for Next 3 Years Major Actions for 2007-8 International Recognitions and
Awards
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Status in 2002 There were less than 15,000 digital lines in
Afghanistan working locally only No national or international connectivity Pakistan country codes was used in many
border areas Music, TV and Internet were forbidden Afghans needed to travel to neighboring
countries to make or receive phone calls
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Telecom & ICT Policies
In 1382 the MoC adopted Telecom and ICT policies with the aim to promote rapid telecom development Through private sector investments Issuing licenses through international
bidding Preparing the right legal framework Creation of transparent regulator
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5 Year Development Plan Based on the policy, the MoC also
prepared a 5 Year Plan (1384-88) The 5-Year Plan gives detailed action plan
for each year in 5 major areas: Development of private sector and regulation Development and privatisation of Afghan
Telecom Development of the ICT sector Capacity building of the MoC staff and public Development, corporatisation and privatisation
of the Afghan Post
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Major AchievementsLegal Framework
Telecomm Law passed in Dec 2005 Afghanistan Telecom Regulatory
Authority (ATRA) established 5 Board Members appointed in June 2006 Organisational build up is ongoing
ATRA is monitoring and controlling the telecom sector to ensure compliance of the law and license conditions
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Major AchievementsGSM Licenses
GSM license issued to Roshan in 1382 and AWCC license renewed as per new conditions
3rd GSM license issued to Areeba in 1384 for 40.1MUS$, operations in 46 cities/towns
4th GSM license issued to Etisalat in 1385, 40.1MUS$, starts operations in May 2007 in 8 cities
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Major AchievementsRegional Licenses
3 regional licenses issued in 2005-6 Wasel Telecom: Balkh, Kunduz and
Jozjan. Inauguration in 21 districts on 21 April 2007
Ertebat Telecom: Heart Shaheen Telecom: Logar, Paktya
and Khost
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Major Achievements Development Projects 1385
Total of 15 projects. 6 projects completed, 7 projects near completion, 2 projects are long term 1386-7
70% of development budget and 87% of ordinary budget spent
Budget in million US$
55.78
10.94
38.86
9.48
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Devlopment Budget Ordinary Budget
Budget
Spent
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Major AchievementsRollout of Services
End 1385, 60-70% of population has access to services
Total number of base stations is 1067
End 1386, rising to 1857, increasing coverage to 70-80% of population
Number of Base Stations
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
2000
Y 1381 Y 1382 Y 1383 Y 1384 Y 1385 Y 1386
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Major AchievementsTotal of over 2.5 million Phone Users
2.5 users in 1385, doubling compared with 1384
100,000 new users every month
By end 1386, expected users almost 4 million
Phone Users
0
500,000
1,000,000
1,500,000
2,000,000
2,500,000
3,000,000
3,500,000
4,000,000
Y 1381 Y 1382 Y 1383 Y 1384 Y 1385 Y 1386
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Major AchievementsPenetration
Penetration %
24.8
16.0
11.38.3 8.0 7.2 6.7
3.5
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
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Major Achievements Government Revenues in US$ million
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Y 1381 Y 1382 Y 1383 Y 1384 Y 1385
License Fees
Taxes &Fees
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Major AchievementsOver $ 700 million of Investments in the Telecom Sector
Investment increases by 50% annually
Investments in MUS$
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
Y 1381 Y 1382 Y 1383 Y 1384 Y 1385 Y 1386
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Major AchievementsReduction of Prices
Sim card prices down from US$30 to US$ 5
Cost of calls to other networks down from 30 c/minute to 9c/minute
Per second billing introduced resulting in 20-25% reduction of call costs
Increased competition results in further reduction of prices
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Major AchievementsJob Creation
Over 40,000 jobs in telecom sector Over 8000 direct employment by
telecom companies Over 35,000 indirect jobs in form of
sales channels, subcontractors, telecom services companies such as towers, civil works etc
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Major AchievementsCapacity Building
Establishment of ICT Institute ongoing New buildings under construction, Laboratories, curriculum development,
training for trainers ongoing 1386 start with first batch Annually 50 engineers
6 Cisco Academies established across the country and 3 more planned for 1386
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Major AchiementsICT
Name of MoC changed to MCIT Total of 15 ISPs licenses issued Current estimate is over 500,000
Internet users Internet services are available to
Gov, NGOs, Companies and the public
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Vission for Next 3 Years Expansion of coverage of telecom
services to 90% of population (currently 50-60%)
Increase of phone users to over 5 millions Reduction of usage costs to at least half
of current level Investments rising to USD 1.5 Billions Total jobs over 70,000 ICT becomes engine of economic
development
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Main Actions for 2007-8Expansion of Digital Network
Expansion of 150,000 digital lines in 5 major cities- Kabul, Kandahar, Mazar, Jalalabad, Kunduz, US$ 40 million
Expansion of 50000 digital lines in Heart, US$ 15 million
Contracts signed, project under implementation, expected date of completion is 1st Quarter 1387
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Main Actions for 2007-8National Optical Fibre Backbone Network
National Optical Fibre Network, in the form of a ring along national highways, Kabul-Ghazni-Kandahar-Herat-Mazar-Samangan-Baghlan-Kabul
Connecting to all neighboring countries,
Important infrastructure project for long term communication needs of the country and region
Project cost is USD 65 million
Contract signed, project under implementation and completion date is end 1387
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Main Actions for 2007-8 Telecom Development Fund
Telecom Development Fund established in 2002 for expansion of telecom services in rural areas.
Operators pay 2.5% of their revenues to the TDF
Currently about USD9 million in TDF and we expect additional $10M in 2007
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Main Actions for 2007-8 ICT Development
Establishment of National Data Centre
Establishment of ICT Council Implementation of key e-
Government projects for the Government
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Main Actions for 2007-8Postal Services
Modernisation of postal services Introduction of new services such
as express mail services, money transfer
Corporatisation of the Afghan Post
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International Recognitions and Awards
Visionary of the Year Award 2006 from ICF, USA
WB Film on Telecom progress in Afghanistan shown in Bonn in international conference as example of global best practice
Positive articles in Economist, NY Post, Herald Tribune etc
Invitation to give speech in GSM Association Conference in Barcelona