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 frances.robinson@dowjones.com
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