Network Access

 

Information Infrastructure (Stage 2)
Afghanistan has an estimated 900,000 working telephone main lines for a population of approximately 31 million. This equates to a teledensity of 3 main lines per 100 populations. In August of 2003, the Ministry of Communications signed a contract with Huawei and ZTE to install additional infrastructure and between 2003 and 2005.  An additional 195,000 land lines were installed. The contract was to install digital class 5 switches in addition to CDMA wireless local loop using the V5.2 interface (limited mobility). This technological feature led US vendors not to bid. The pace of expansion is expected to be governed primarily by access to investment capital. The government wants to replace all remaining analog facilities. Kabul has the greatest number of installed and active lines.

Mobile growth has been extremely rapid compared to land lines. Mobile telephone lines have reached an estimated 1.4 million ending in 2005. Two private sector operators have been licensed to operate, both using the GSM standard. Afghan Wireless Communications Corp (www.afghanwireless.com) is the largest.  There is also a smaller company, Roshan (www.roshan.af).  In April 2002, Afghan Wireless enabled GSM services to be launched in Kabul after only 9 weeks, with 4 base stations.  Since this time the company has invested an estimated $75 million and completed a $14 million upgrade of its switching platform to accommodate accelerating demand. Afghan Wireless is 80% owned by Telecommunications Systems International (TSI) of the US and 20% owned by the Afghan Ministry of Communications at Intercontinental Hotel, Kabul. Afghan Wireless no longer provides internet services.

 

Internet Availability (Stage 2)

The Internet is one of many sectors in Afghanistan in a process of reconstruction from the dilapidated status it has had since 2001. It was banned by the Taliban in July 2001 because it was thought to broadcast obscene, immoral, and anti-Islam material, and because the few Internet users at the time could not be easily monitored as they obtained their telephone lines from Pakistan.  Afghanistan does not have a national long distance network connecting major population centers, lesser towns or national borders. The absence of a domestic backhaul network is a major obstacle to disseminating affordable telecommunications services throughout the country. The Ministry of Communications issued tenders in 2003 for a District Communications Network Satellite project to provide basic connectivity to all districts in Afghanistan, managed by the UN Mission in Afghanistan. Public switches for network communications in rural areas are virtually non existent. Many outlying communities, particularly in areas with large refugee populations, have no means of internet availability via land lines.  Long distance communications are currently accomplished via VSAT.  VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) is a satellite communications system that serves home and business users.  Five VSAT’s installed in Kabul, Heart, Mazar-Sharif, Kandahar, and Jalalabad provide international and domestic data connectivity for those areas. Up from five functional ISPs in 2003, in 2006 Afghanistan supported twenty-two Internet hosts and seven main ISPs and a growing number of Internet cafés and telekiosks (public access points located in post offices and at the Kabul airport).  However, the number of Internet users as a percentage of the population is as low as 1% in some surveys. 

 

Internet Affordability (Stage 1)

Afghanistan is a country where 40 percent of the rural population suffers from low-income food deficit and life expectancy is less than forty-five years.  The Internet and Infrastructure represent only one component of social and economic development needed for the government to meet its goals in Afghanistan. The struggle to make the Internet widely available is a large one. With a total of 1,200 Internet subscribers and an average of one Internet user per thousand people for a total of 30,000 estimated users, Afghanistan remains almost completely outside the cyber sphere. One major obstacle is the adult literacy rate, which stands around 28 percent (as of 2004). The literacy rate for women is between 9 and 18 percent, the lowest in the world; ongoing violence and intimidation threaten primary school education for girls, and indeed for all children. A second barrier to Internet use is its cost, which is prohibitive for most Afghans. In part to address these concerns, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT, formerly the Ministry of Communications) contracted two Chinese firms, ZPE and Huawei, to build a digital wireless network in twelve provinces. Internet service providers (ISPs) often choose wireless networks as well, since the number of fixed lines is limited.  Below is an example of VSAT pricing.

Linkstar Satillite Internet, ts2.pl; August 2007;  http://www.ts2.pl/en/Satellite-Internet-in-Iraq-and-Afghanistan

 

Network Speed and Quality (Stage 2)

Land Line and Mobile communications can experience a 30% interruption rate. As Internet traffic continues to grow worldwide, Internet services providers (ISP's) everywhere are faced with the challenge of keeping up with demand for network bandwidth and developing creative solutions for squeezing more use out of existing bandwidth. Introduced in the mid 1990s, satellite Internet became the first mainstream consumer wireless Internet service. Satellite access initially worked only in one direction, for downloading information. Subscribers needed to install a standard dialup modem and use a telephone line in conjunction with the satellite to make a functional system. Newer forms of satellite service remove this limitation and support full two-way connectivity. Satellites will emerge as a global option for broadband Internet services in countries such as Afghanistan. Demand is expected to push this market.  Satellite communication has the unique ability to deliver bandwidth exactly where and when it is needed, irrespective of geography and local infrastructure. Wireless offers a full range of Internet over Satellite solutions used in Afghanistan.

 

Hardware, Software (Stage 2)

Almost three decades of war contributed to collapse of state institutions, mass migration of manpower, poor economic growth, poor information management practices, lack of requisite technical skills, and lack of the enabling environments in the form of skills, training, hardware and software. Afghanistan’s computing history dates back at least to 1971 when the Afghan Computer Centre installed an IBM 360 computer at Kabul’s Intercontinental Hotel. The computer was used to process the countries demographic and economic statistics. During the following years, the Afghan Computer Centre bought four mainframe computers. The Centre was closed in 1993, and did not reopen until 2001. In June 2005, it was reconstituted as the Afghanistan National Data Centre.

After the Taliban era, a number of computer shops opened in the larger cities.  Shops sell desktop computers, printers, scanners, uninterruptible power supplies.

  

Service & Support (Stage 2)

There are possibly 500–1,000 private computer training centers in Afghanistan, many of which are located in Kabul. These training centers offer basic computer education along with English courses. The Ministry of Communications has also established 12 computer training centers in Kabul, Herat, Jalalabad, Mazar-i-Sharif, Kandahar, and Konduz for civil servants, women, and the general population. A four-year bachelor degree is offered, and the departments have computers for the students.  There are 5 universities estimated to offer education in Computer Studies.  Afghanistan is still suffering from the wars and even with these programs there remains a small community of software developers and technical personnel. 

The MoC and GoA have plans to connect 6000 communities by 2009 and provide coverage to 99% of the population.  This will provide ICT services where there currently are not any.  Support of existing infrastructure will be provided mainly by the ICT service provider.  Depending on the customer service contract service levels will vary.  The Afghan government will have limited ability to support the infrastructure based on how remote the site is, the state of local insurgency and local people’s support of the Afghan government.  

 

 

Network Access References:

geos/af.html.