08 June 2006
Dubai: Jebel Ali-based Modern Technology International (MTI), which secured a unified telecom licence in Afghanistan, Wasel Telecom, will award a contract for vendor equipment within four weeks to roll out its services in November, said a top official.
The company will invest Dh91 million ($25 million) during the first three years and have a subscriber base of 500,000 in seven northern Afghan states with a population of seven million.
"We are currently negotiating with a number of Korean and American vendor equipment suppliers for the fixed-phone, mobile network as well as data and hope to award the contract in four weeks time," Byung Ho Chung, MTI's chairman told Gulf News on Tuesday.
"Our network will be based on CDMA technology.
"One of our objectives is screening the vendors is to ensure the best possible technology to the customers."
MTI's Wasel Telecom will be the only CDMA network operator in Afghanistan, where three other operators have been granted GSM licence, including UAE's Etisalat, Afghanistan's government-owned Afghan Telecom and Aga Khan Development Network's Roshan.
He said, the investment could be recovered within the first three years.
Afghanistan, where people had limited access to electronic media and telecommunication, has a high potential in telecom as the country began to enjoy the fruits of modern telecommunication only since 2002, following the toppling of the Taliban regime.
The number of mobile subscribers in Afghanis-tan has reached 1.5 million during the last three years, shared by Afghan Telecom and Roshan. Etisalat is yet to launch its service.
"We are looking for the best telecom system in the world to penetrate in Afghanistan. Following the successful CDMA roll out, we plan to install CDMA1X-EVDO Revision A technology, which is 3.5G system the world's most advanced network," Chung said.
"By next year, the seven million population in Northern Afghanistan will enjoy better telecom facilities than that available in the Gulf."
Mohammad Gul Kholmi, MTI's senior vice president, said, despite being a war-torn country, Afghanistan is picking up fast in joining the information super highway.
"We will have a complete fibre-optic connection in three years time that will change the total telecom scenario. Besides, the telecom policy of the Afghan-istan Telecommunication Regulatory Authority is very competitive and will help the country to become one of the most advanced in the region."
By Saifur Rahman
Gulf News 2006. All rights reserved.
