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Afghanistan Ministry of
Communications (MoC)
Ten-Year Plan for Telecommunications Sector 1382 (2003)
President Karzai’s Vision:
Afghanistan should enjoy a per-capita income of US$1000 by 2014.
The Goal of the MoC’s Efforts:
In line with the President’s vision, the MoC’s strategy and policies
will be to further develop the telecommunications market, maximizing
the resulting positive impact on the economy.
Objectives:
Key performance indicators for the Telecom and IT sector have been
identified and the targets for the Year 2008 and 2013 for these
indicators are given in the table below:
Indicator Year 2008 Year 2013
Fixed Telephones Penetration 4.00% 15.00%
Mobile Phones Penetration 10.00% 30.00%
Internet User Penetration 1.00% 5.00%
Fixed Telephone Market Value (US$ Millions) 225 675
Mobile Phone Market Value (US$ Millions) 993.67 3,291.28
Internet Market Value (US$ Millions) 37.26 135
Total Market Value (US$ Millions) 1,255.94 4,101.28
Telecom Market Value as % of GDP (revenues) 9.65% 14.95%
Cumulative Foreign Direct Investment (US$ Millions) 866.43 2,078.13
Indirect Market Value (US$ Millions) 605.47 2,050.64
Telecom Direct Employment 13,352 29,073
Indirect Employment 6,676 l4,530
The 6 Core Strategies:
In order to achieve the above objectives, the MoC has defined
following objectives:
1. Accelerating the creation of a fully competitive and transparent
regulatory and market environment
2. Successfully attracting intense and sustained private investment
3. Accelerating the deployment of pervasive infrastructure
4. Developing a fully functional Information Society in Afghanistan,
supported by model eGovernment
5. Institutional Reform
6. Human Capacity Development
Each of these strategies is described in detail below
Strategy 1 — Accelerating the Creation of a fully competitive and
transparent regulatory and therefore market environment
The current state of affairs (background):
Before 1382 (2003) there was no regulatory framework that supported
the sector and encourages private investment. In 1382 (2003):
• The Ministry defined Telecommunications, Internet and Information
& Communications Technology (ICT) policies, which foresee the
limited competition in the Afghan market for the next three (3)
years, to be followed by more aggressive liberalization.
• A Telecommunications Law was drafted, foreseeing the introduction
of a license regime and the creation of the Telecommunications
Regulatory Authority of Afghanistan (TRAA) to perform the role of
regulating the industry.
• The Ministry established the Telecommunications Regulatory Board
(TRB) as a precursor of the TRAA, which could perform the regulatory
functions foreseen in the licenses already granted (collection of
mobile operators license fees, etc.), and established and launched
the operations of the Frequency Management Unit (FMU).
• The Ministry assigned a mandate to expert international regulatory
consultants, who drafted a plan for the organization, processes,
staffing and budget of the TRB and the TRAA
• The Ministry launched a Corporatization project, aimed at spinning
out the operational activities to a new corporation, to be called
Afghan Telecom Limited (ATL). A mandate was assigned to an
international consultant to support this effort and a Presidential
Decree was drafted to this effect, and awaits approval.
Specific Initiatives Required:
During the course of 1383:
• Approval and enactment of Telecom Act, including the
establishment, staffing (including training) and launching of
operations of the TRAA and of the Telecommunications Standards
Agency (TSA), the start of operation of license performance
monitoring as planned.
• Publication of a national numbering plan as planned.
• Strengthening of the Frequency Management Unit (FMU) – which will
become the Spectrum Management Office (SMO) once the Telecom Law is
promulgated – including the build-up and training of staff, the
purchase, installation and operation of the required operational
systems
• Assignment of mandates to international consultants to speed up
the start-up period for the TRAA,
• Conclusion of interconnection agreements between all licensed
telecommunications operators
By 1386:
• Complete the staffing and training of TRAA, SMO and TSA
• Merging of these organizations in the TRAA, and the spinning out
of the TRAA from the Ministry as an independent government agency.
• Tendering and assignment of additional Fixed Service Provider
(FSP) licenses, International Gateway Services (IGS) licenses,
International Transit Internet Service Provision (ITISP) licenses,
and licenses for the utilization of the Telecommunications
Development Fund (TDF) for the development of the rural market
(Local Fixed Service Providers LFSP’s) and other licenses foreseen
in the Policy.
• Complete liberalization of the telecom market and the adoption of
an Authorization regime, in line with the most modern regulatory
environments
• Creation of ATL, the transfer to ATL of all MoC operational
activities, the privatisation of ATL..
After 1386:
• Tendering and assignment of additional mobile licenses.
• Approval of Local Loop Unbundling legislation.
Additional Resources Required
• Donor funding for three (3) man-years of international regulatory
consulting.
• An increase of 50% of the current TRB, TSA and FMU budgets.
Quantitative and Qualitative Results Expected:
• Tendering and assignment of three (3) nationwide FSP licenses
(including ATL) by the end of 1384
• Tendering and assignment of thirty (30) LFSP licenses by 1385
• Tendering and assignment of two (2) additional mobile licenses in
1386
• Granting of 10 IGS authorization by 1388
Strategy 2 – Successfully attracting intense and sustained private
investment
The Current State of Affairs – Background:
• Significant private investment in the telecom market is mainly
represented by that of the two (2) mobile service providers, AWCC
and Roshan, and is in the order of US$100M so far, making the
telecom market the largest private market recipient of Foreign
Direct Investment in Afghanistan. Revenues of the two (2) mobile
service providers also largely drive the value of the Afghan telecom
market, which is probably in excess of US$100M, and therefore the
largest private sector of the Afghan economy.
• The Law on Domestic and Foreign Private Investment, and the
revision being drafted, guarantee safeguards and tax incentives for
investors in the Afghan economy. However the telecommunications
sector is excluded from the range of applicability of the law, and
therefore telecommunications investors do not enjoy the safeguards
and tax incentives foreseen in the Law.
• Raising money for investment is difficult given the country risk
profile, and the lack of local banks offering large loans and stock
markets.
• A new Law on Business Organizations is being drafted. The lack of
a solid legal system represents a risk for foreign companies
interested in investing in Afghanistan.
• There is current tender ongoing to provide an opportunity for a
foreign telecom operator to invest in Afghanistan
Specific Initiatives Required
During the course of 1383:
• Extension to telecom sector of scope of applicability of Law on
Domestic and Foreign Private Investment – or comparable legislation
(MoJ).
• Enactment of the Law on Business Organizations and other
appropriate corporate governance legislation. (MoJ).
• Launch of tenders and assignment of licenses as foreseen in
Strategy I.
• Planning, organization and launch of a formal program of
Ministry-led activities (at conferences, trade shows, meetings with
foreign operators) to promote the Afghanistan telecom market as a
target for investment.
By 1386:
• Creation of capital and loans markets (MoF);
• Definition of an industrial strategy (Mol);
Additional Resources Required:
• Small (<US$100,000) yearly budget for promotional program
Quantitative and qualitative results expected:
• High-level meetings held with 20 carriers by the end of 1383.
• Six to Eight (6-8) competitive telecom service providers.
• Four (4) national, and numerous regional, internet service
providers ISP).
Strategy 3 – Accelerating the deployment of pervasive infrastructure
The Current State of Affairs – Background:
• Currently, the Infrastructure is very limited. There are only
about 30,000 digital telephone lines. MoC has one satellite link
with four provincial capitals, giving voice connectivity. Internet
has been provided to eight (8) Ministries at Kabul via facilities
provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
• CDMA phone Projects are also under progress and we hope that by
end May 2004, Afghanistan will have 90,000 new wireless phones in
Kabul and in eleven (11) provinces.
• By March 2005, the Government Communications Network (GCN) Project
of the MoC will provide voice, internet and video connectivity to
all Ministries and all provincial capitals of Afghanistan.
• By March 2005, the District Communications Network (DCN) Project
will link up over 100 district HQs of Afghanistan and the remaining
will be linked up before March 2006
Specific Initiatives Recommended:
• Change the licensing regime to Government’s authorization role
only.
• Migrate to Unified Licenses (basic telephony, mobile, internet and
video combined).
• Decide upon a methodology for subsidies to be given to any service
provider for to provide connectivity in rural and under-served
areas.
• Liberalize the policies on establishment of international
gateways.
• Provide infrastructure and other facilities for establishing the
international gateways in Afghanistan.
• Provide infrastructure and other facilities for establishing BPOs
(Business Processes Outsourcing) centers in Afghanistan and work out
a revenue sharing model for such BPOs.
• Invite major telecom players in the world to have their Call
Centers in Afghanistan.
• Establish a fiberoptic ring in the country, linking most of the
provincial capitals
• Connect the telecom infrastructure of all the provincial capitals
with the infrastructure down the chain, available up to village
levels.
• Have Digital Residential Projects to connect all the Central
Offices up to all Alaqabdari levels.
• Have at least two (2) Public Call Offices (PCO) in every village
with a population greater than 2000.
• Increase the density of PCOs in cities and townships, to have at
least one (1) PCO within one (1) square kilometer (km) of area.
Resources Required:
• Project to build telecom and BPO centers, to be offered as readily
available infrastructure: US$20 million.
• Project to establish a fiberoptic ring connecting all provincial
capitals and major districts: US$52 million.
• Project to establish connectivity up to village levels: US$20
million.
Quantitative and the Qualitative Results Expected:
• The returns are expected to accrue after completing the
above-mentioned projects. It is expected to earn revenue of US$?M
from 2009 to 2013.
• Foreign Direct Investment will be attracted and many private
telecom service providers will operate for the growth of
Afghanistan.
• Employment opportunities for our skilled and unskilled labour will
increase.
• Satisfaction levels of the Afghanistan society as a whole will go
up.
• The Telecom assets so created will give revenues for decades to
come.
Strategy 4 – Developing a fully functional Information Society in
Afghanistan, supported by model e-Government
The current state of affairs – background:
• The ICT sector is very new in Afghanistan. In order to address the
issue in a more concrete way the MoC has developed the ICT policy,
which will enable the government to pinpoint the objectives to be
achieved in this field.
• In order to enable Afghans to access the information, MoC has come
up with an internet regime, which has resulted in six (6) ISPs in
the country, and in very short time five (5) more will be
establishing their services in the country.
• In order to enable the public to make use of internet, MoC has
also established twelve (12) telekiosks which enables the public to
use internet for their daily use.
• MoC has also established the AfgNIC which is working on the
country code top level domain (ccTLD) of the country which
facilitates the identity of the country over the internet.
• MoC is planning to establish one National Data Centre in Kabul and
four (4) ICT Centres in four (4) of the major cities of Afghanistan.
Specific initiatives required:
• To take the necessary steps to change the name of the MoC to the
“Ministry of Information and Communication s Technologies.”
• To establish National ICT Council, to achieve the recommended
national ICT plans and strategies referred to in the ICT policy
document. The ICT Council will coordinate the actions of all
governmental sectors in support of ICT policy and strategy.
• To develop a government portal and eGovernment in order to start
the culture of using the new technologies and new methodologies in
our offices to the district level.
• To promote the “dot AF” (.af) development.
• To carry out system analyses and design for each department and
procure the required software, in order to implement the paperless
office culture.
• To establish the Electronic Certification Authority and develop
E-Legislation
• To establish Multipurpose Community Tele-centers (MPCTs) in each
district of the country.
• To establish IT Parks each in every provinces of the country,
which will attract international expertise and afghan expatriates.
• To establish National Data and IT centers in major cities of the
country, these facilities will enable the government organizations
to provide all eServices.
• To establish ICT Training centers, this will facilitate the
training of public and government organizations on district level.
• To invite International hardware manufacturing companies like
Intel, Acer, Dell and others to invest in the country. Government
should come up with relaxed investment policies and taxation
regimes.
.. To invite international software development companies like
Microsoft, Oracle and others to Afghanistan.
• To encourage private sector to establish private academies like
CISCO, MCSE, OCP.
• To promote at least five (5) ISP licensees in the five (5) per
major cities of Afghanistan
Resources Required:
• Projects to facilitate the E-Services (e.g Government to
Government – G2G, Business to Government – B2G, Government to
Consumer – G2C): US$5 million.
• Projects to establish MPCT and ICT training centers:US$15 million.
• Projects to establish bodies and authorities: US$1 million.
• Projects to establish Data and IT centers: US$10 million.
Quantitative and the Qualitative Results Expected:
• The expected returns of the above-mentioned projects is US$50
million from 2009 to 2013.
• FDI will be attracted in form of Software and Hardware companies.
• Chances for employment will be facilitated.
• Human Resources will be developed which will contribute to the
future growth of the sector.
• Will be the start of Information Society in the country.
Strategy 5 – Institutional Reform
The current state of affairs – background:
• Policy, legislation, regulation and operation are still all seated
in one organization.
• The Priority Reform and Restructuring (PRR) Presidential decree
passed, a list of departments and positions to which the decree can
be applied has been defined, the MoC is in the process of selecting
personnel for these positions.
• The Corporatization Decree is ready to be approved, implementation
plans are being readied, a one-year mandate has been assigned to an
international consultant
Specific initiatives required:
During 1383:
• Creation of ATL, which will consolidate the MoC’s
telecommunications operating activities as a first step towards
attacting a management partner.
• Creation of new MoC agencies and organizations (TSA, ICT
Department) as planned.
• Completion of the application of the PRR decree to the Ministry as
planned.
By 1386:
• Afghan Telecom (ATL) privatization.
• Disposal of MoC’s stake in AWCC.
• Extraction from the Ministry and establishment of the TRAA
(inclusive of FMU and TSA) as an independent government agency.
After 1386:
• Further restructuring of the resulting MoC organization in line
with best international practice.
Additional resources required:
• Donor funding to retain investment bank for Afghan Telecom
privatization and AWCC stake disposal (US$500,000). <Note:
investment bankers get paid with a share of the sale.>
Quantitative and qualitative results expected:
• ATL is established as a company and provides telecom services in
competition with private sector companies.
• ATL is partially or fully privatized.
• MoC has successfully disposed of its shares in AWCC.
• Fully independent telecom regulatory body is established including
a functioning TSA.
Strategy 6 – Capacity Building Development
Current State of Affairs/Background
• 1382 : The current situation does not look satisfactory, however,
a lot of short term courses, seminars, workshops in a national and
international level have been taken place.
• 1382: Establishment of English Language courses within the MoC for
the MoC staff.
• 1382: Establishment of 16 ICT centers in Kabul, Mazar, Kunduz,
Khost, Jalalabad and Kandahar provinces.
• 1382: Establishment of computer courses within the MoC for the MoC
staff.
• 1382: Participation of MoC staff in APT and ITU international
workshops and seminars.
• 1382: Fellowships and scholarships for some of the MoC staff at
the international short-term courses.
• 1382: Local workshops and short-term courses.
• 1382: Migration and expansion of the MoC’s Technical Training
Centre (TTC) to an ICT institute by the assistance of ITU and Iran.
• 1382: Participation of some of the MoC staff to the WB video
conference room at AACA.
Specific initiatives required
• Change the TTC to the institute of ICT training Afghans up to
degree levels.
• Creation of ICT faculties at the universities of Kabul, Mazar,
Herat, Kandahar, .Jalalabad and Khost provinces.
• Creation of ICT centers in all provinces for short-term courses
and up to high school education as technician level.
• lntroducing e-learning/distance learning to all provinces.
• Creation of Video conferences in all provinces through GCN and
DCN.
• Sending Afghans for the international long term and short-term
training.
• Conducting Seminars, workshops, at provincial level.
• Creation of libraries and ICT publications.
Resources required
• Additional staffing and training resources
• Additional donor-funded external resources
• Budget allowance for fiscal incentives
• Qualified Trainer/teachers
Quantitative and qualitative results expected
• Wide spread institution building and capacity strengthening.
• 7 ICT engineering colleges established.
• 10 Technical Colleges established.
• 4 software research and development centres established.
• 500 telecom and IT Engineers graduated.
• 1000 new technicians graduated.
Abbreviations
B2G Business to Government (electronic commerce)
G2G Government to Government (electronic commerce)
G2C Government to Consumer (electronic commerce)
ADB Asian Development Bank
ATL Afghan Telecom Limited
BPO Business Process Outsourcing
ccTLD Country Code Top Level Domain (internet addressing)
CDMA Code Division Multiple Access
DCN District Communications Network
FDI Foreign Direct Investment
GCN Government Communications Network
IGS International Gateway Service
FMU Frequency Management Unit
HQ Headquarters
ICT Information & Communications Technology
ISP Internet Service Provider
IT Information Technology
ITISP International Transit ISP
LFSP Local Fixed Service Provider
MoC Ministry of Communications
MoJ Ministry of Justice
MPTC Multi-Purpose Tele-Centres
PRR Priority Reform and Reconstruction
SMO Spectrum Management Office
TDF Telecommunications Development Fund
TSA Telecommunications Standards Agency
TRAA Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Afghanistan
TRB Telecommunications Regulatory Board
TTC Telecommunications Training Centre
This page was last updated on 04/19/2005
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