Dear Countrymen,

I have been in office for 2 years and 4 months. Based on our progressive policies, thoughtful strategies and realistic development plans, I am delighted to see the tremendous development of the telecom sector during the last 2 years. A solid foundation for further growth of the telecom sector has been laid.

There are now five major licensed telecom operators in Afghanistan. Four of these are GSM operators namely AWCC, Roshan, Areeba which are already operational and Etisalat which will launch services in May 2007. The fifth operator Afghan Telecom provides CDMA mobile, wireless and wire-line fixed services. In addition, there are 15 licensed Internet Services Providers, providing Internet services across the country.

The total investments in the telecom sector is now over US$ 700 million and is expected to exceed US$ 1 billion by the end of 2007.

More and more people of our country get access to telecom services everyday. Today about 70% of the population has come under the coverage of telecom services. There are now over 2.5 million phone users, mostly GSM mobile, in the country. The number is growing by about 100,000 new users every month. Afghanistan is already ahead of some of our neighboring countries and catching up with others.

Internet is now widely available across the country. Our prestigious optical fibre backbone project in the form of a ring around the country, expected to be completed in next 18 months, connecting all major populated areas and also connecting to neighbouring countries is going to further enhance the growth of ICT satisfying not only the needs of today or tomorrow but the needs of future generations.

The telecom sector is currently providing job opportunities for over 40,000 of our countrymen. Over 8000 of these are direct employment with telecom companies and more than 35,000 people are working in telecom services related companies such as shops selling mobile phones, SIM cards and computers, construction companies building towers, engineering companies providing installation services etc.

The revenues to the Government from the telecom sector are growing every year. In 2005, the revenues from the telecom sector to the Government were US$67 million. In 2006, it grew by 50% to US$ 110 million which is 20% of the total Government revenues.

Our vision for the next 3 years is to expand the coverage of telecom services to over 90% of the population, the total number of phone users shall increase to over 5 million, cost of services dropping to half of its current level, investments in the ICT sector rising to US$ 1.5 billion, total number of jobs in the telecom sector increasing to over 70,000 and ICT becoming the main engine of economic development.

Recently the village of Sarobi in Pakitika province came under the coverage of mobile services. Elders of the village while on visit to my office to thank me for the services told me “We feel as if we are dreaming. We never expected to see mobile phones in our village during our life time.” It is my dream to make the dream of all Afghans of owning and using a mobile phone and having access to Internet come true.


* Achivements End of 2006


AmirZai Sangin
25 April 2007