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

1 April 2007 MoC 3

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

1 April 2007 MoC 4

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

1 April 2007 MoC 5

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

1 April 2007 MoC 6

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

1 April 2007 MoC 7

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

1 April 2007 MoC 8

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

1 April 2007 MoC 9

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

1 April 2007 MoC 10

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

1 April 2007 MoC 11

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

1 April 2007 MoC 12

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

1 April 2007 MoC 13

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

1 April 2007 MoC 14

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

1 April 2007 MoC 15

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

1 April 2007 MoC 16

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

1 April 2007 MoC 17

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

1 April 2007 MoC 18

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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Major AchievementsPost

1 April 2007 MoC 20

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

1 April 2007 MoC 21

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

1 April 2007 MoC 22

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

1 April 2007 MoC 23

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

1 April 2007 MoC 24

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

1 April 2007 MoC 25

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

1 April 2007 MoC 26

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