Afghan Telecom

Report

A telecom sector brief by Ken Zita on Afghanistan’s rapid telecommunications recovery following decades of conflict, describing how within two years of the 2002 assessment the government had approved a sector development plan, put in place telecom policy and regulation, and attracted an estimated $130 million in private investment, adding more than 170,000 mobile users and increasing phone access fivefold. The brief covers Afghanistan’s political and economic context, demography, telecom policy environment and market overview, including plans for a new telecom law, a national satellite network and an expanding fibre-optic backbone.