TABLE OF CONTENTS ACRONYMS ................................................................................................................................................... 4 FOREWORD ................................................................................................................................................... 6 1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................... 8 Key Comparative Indicators (Table-1) ......................................................................................... 9 2. TELECOMMUNICATION ....................................................................................................................... 10 A. Infrastructure .................................................................................................................................. 10 B. Service Carriers ............................................................................................................................... 11 i. Overview ..................................................................................................................................... 11 Periodic Cost Comparison, Mobile Telephony (Figure-1) ........................................................... 12 ii. Profiles ........................................................................................................................................ 12 1. Afghan Telecom ..................................................................................................................... 12 2. Afghan Wireless Communication Company .......................................................................... 13 3. Roshan .................................................................................................................................... 14 4. MTN ........................................................................................................................................ 15 5. Etisalat .................................................................................................................................... 16 6. Wasel Telecom ....................................................................................................................... 17 Market Share by Subscribership (Figure-2) ................................................................................ 17 C. Afghanistan Telecom Operators’ Social Association ....................................................................... 18 3. INTERNET ............................................................................................................................................ 19 A. Overview ......................................................................................................................................... 19 B. Internet Service Providers ............................................................................................................... 20 National ISPs (Table-3) ............................................................................................................... 21 Regional/Provincial ISPs (Table-4) .............................................................................................. 22 C. National ISP Association of Afghanistan ......................................................................................... 22 Registered Dot-Af ccSLDs Ratio (Figure-3) .................................................................................. 23 4. LEGAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK ............................................................................................ 24 A. Background ..................................................................................................................................... 24 B. Telecommunications ....................................................................................................................... 25 i. Legal Framework ......................................................................................................................... 25 ii. Regulatory Framework ................................................................................................................ 28 C. Internet ........................................................................................................................................... 31 i. Legal Framework ......................................................................................................................... 31 ii. Regulatory Framework ................................................................................................................ 33 5. ROADMAP FOR THE FUTURE .............................................................................................................. 36 A. Development Framework ............................................................................................................... 36 i. Background ................................................................................................................................. 36 i. E-Afghanistan National Priority Program .................................................................................... 36 B. Legal and Regulatory Framework ................................................................................................... 42 i. ICT Law ........................................................................................................................................ 42 C. 3G and Wireless Broadband ........................................................................................................... 43 D. Other Major Projects ...................................................................................................................... 44 i. ICT Sector Development Project ................................................................................................. 44 6. CONCLUSION AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS .............................................................................. 46 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................................ 50 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................................... 52 ANNEXES ..................................................................................................................................................... 53 1. National Fiber Optic Backbone Map (Annex-1) .............................................................................. 53 2. MCIT’s Vision for 2014 (Annex-2) ................................................................................................... 54 3. Telecom Sector Annual Revenues 2002-2011 (Annex-3) ................................................................ 55 4. Service Scope by Operators (Annex-4) ........................................................................................... 56 5. ATRA’s Organizational Structure (Annex-5) .................................................................................... 57 C. Internet ........................................................................................................................................... 31 ACRONYMS i. Legal Framework ......................................................................................................................... 31 GENERAL ii. Regulatory Framework ................................................................................................................ 33 $ Dollar (all amounts are in U.S. dollars unless mentioned otherwise) 5. ROADMAP FOR THE FUTURE .............................................................................................................. 36 3G Third Generation (mobile communications) APNIC Asia Pacific Network Information Center A. Development Framework ............................................................................................................... 36 BTS Base Transceiver Station i. Background ................................................................................................................................. 36 BWA Broadband Wireless Access i. E-Afghanistan National Priority Program .................................................................................... 36 ccSLD Country Code Second Level Domain B. Legal and Regulatory Framework ................................................................................................... 42 ccTLD Country Code Top Level Domain i. ICT Law ........................................................................................................................................ 42 CDMA Code Division Multiple Access CIO Chief Information Officer C. 3G and Wireless Broadband ........................................................................................................... 43 DSL Digital Subscriber Line D. Other Major Projects ...................................................................................................................... 44 EDGE Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (also known as “EGPRS”) i. ICT Sector Development Project ................................................................................................. 44 e-Gov. Electronic Government 6. CONCLUSION AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS .............................................................................. 46 EVDO Evolution Data Optimized (a standard