Morris Lim

Monday, April 10, 2006

While the article from the book mentions that AWCC as the only telecommunication service provider in Afghan in June, 2003, it no longer is. A company named Roshan, which was funded in July 2003, has exceeded the number of its subscribers almost by double in 2006.

The network of Roshan is almost nation wide except for some rural regions, and 40% of the population was subscribed to it. Not only has it opened up the cell phone and the Internet market in Afghan, what is more important is that it also helped the government and the society with its services and incomes. According to the article, in 2005, it paid 25million dollars tax to the Afghan government, and this was about five percent of the national budget. Also, the company had to literally build roads to reach out as they implemented new antennas.

Interestingly enough, in the end of the article, the author mentions that the company also cooperates with their TV broadcasting companies on a show called “Afghan Star”, which is an Afghan version of American Idol.

Reference:

Top Afghan Mobile Network Wants to Build More Than Just Profits, PakTribune, 4/10/2006

URL:

http://paktribune.com/news/print.php?id=140250