MOBILE WORLD: Afghanistan Welcomes the Digital Age - Telecoms Minister

By Frances Robinson

BARCELONA--Afghanistan's appetite for mobile technology and the associated need for digital security is transforming the country's communication agenda, attracting overseas investors and boosting employment, said its Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Amirzai Sangin, Wednesday.

"Everything that we had from before was destroyed," Mr. Sangin told the Wall Street Journal on the sidelines of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. "The policy was very simple--the government don't have money, so let us enable an environment for private sector investment."

As a result, Afghanistan's rollout of new technologies, from electronic ID cards to mobile Internet, is continuing apace; with plans to start digital television broadcasts by the end of this year.

The rapid growth in digital technology has also prompted a need for improved online security, Mr. Sangin said. Mass access to broadband brings security issues as well as benefits for the population.

"For that aspect, we have just started a cooperation with the commerce departments of the United States," he said. Experts are helping to define a national cyber-security strategy, "There we will see what are our weaknesses, what we need to do in terms of firewalls, in hardware... in order to make our networks more secure."

The growth in mobile services has allowed a number of global mobile operators to become established, including Middle Eastern mobile giant Etisalat (ETISALAT.AD); South Africa's MTN Group (MTN.JO); Roshan, partnered by Sweden's TeliaSonera (TLSN.SK); and U.S.-Afghan owned Afghan Wireless. Voice-based calls are the main business, with mobile data downloads just starting to take off and SMS texting popular with young, educated people.

"The tremendous hunger of the people for mobile technology" means there are now 5,000 mobile towers, even in remote, mountainous areas--with 90% of the population covered in what Mr. Sangin calls a "public-private-people-partnership."

The impact of this change for people in rural areas who used to travel across the border to Pakistan just to make a phone call is huge, Mr. Sangin added. The population of 35 million has gone from zero mobile phones to 20 million handsets in the country in ten years, he said. The country has effectively bypassed fixed-line voice technology--it only has 200,000 landlines nationwide.

Afghanistan is now forging ahead with 3G mobile broadband. Coverage is currently around 20%-25% but still ahead of many neighboring countries, said Mr. Sangin. China's leading telecoms equipment and network provider ZTE Corp. (ZTCOY) has built an optic fiber network, enabling the country to issue 3G mobile licenses.

"The rollout has started, 11 cities have coverage already," Mr. Sangin said. "My goal is to have 80% of the population coming under the coverage of broadband in next two years."

The digital revolution has also boosted the country's employment levels, around 300,000-400,000 people now work in the telecoms sector. Demand for television is also growing, with the first digital broadcasts expected this year.

"In the Taliban's time, TV was forbidden, music, Internet, photography were forbidden--now we have 35 TV companies in Kabul," said Mr. Sangin. "The frequencies are not enough for more analogue...we ought to have our first digital transmission in Kabul this year."

The country will also introduce e-Tazkira, national electronic identification cards which will be distributed in three weeks' time and include fingerprint and iris scans, "leapfrogging into the latest technology."

"You know we always have a problem in elections" as handwritten identification cards let people vote more than once. "You can do many things, such as have the driving license in the chip, and in future it could be used as a passport also, you could have your visa in the chip," Mr. Sangin said.

It is also important that new technologies are for everyone, he added, noting that of the 8 million people attending school, 40%-45% are girls, with a booming market for extra English and IT lessons. Although the country has a "long way to go" people's lives are starting to improve, he added.

"Afghanistan has possibilities, it doesn't have to be a poor country," said Mr. Sangin. As well as excellent natural resources, "people are very capable, they learn very quickly and are willing to work hard."

Write to Frances Robinson at [e-mail]

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