Afghanistan telecom sector's progress threatened by the return of the Taliban regime
The return of the Taliban to power in August 2021 following the American-led withdrawal of security forces has thrown the telecom sector and along with the rest of the country's developing economy and into disarray.Afghanistan was already sitting near the bottom of the world's rankings in terms of its telecom market maturity, but it had at least been making some positive progress toward establishing widespread coverage over the prior decade under civilian administration. However, if past experience of Taliban rule is anything to go by, all of that development is now at risk of being undone and the country's fortunes going in reverse.
After the first Taliban regime was toppled in 2001, considerable foreign investment along with open competition in the telecom sector resulted in the transformation of the mobile market, in particular. The first mobile network was set up in 2002, and by 2020 coverage had reached 90%. Mobile penetration rates, too, had climbed from zero to almost 100% by the time a new insurgency kicked off in 2019 that was closely followed by the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Both events caused a falloff in subscriber numbers as well as a drop in revenue for the mobile operators, but it was additional costs involved with repairing and replacing network infrastructure destroyed by the Taliban in the leadup to their takeover that put the greatest strain on the operators finances. With increased levels of risk and uncertainty now associated with running a telecom company in the embattled state, MTN Afghanistan has become the first operator to announce that it is in talks with prospective buyers to allow it to exit the market as quickly as possible.
This report update includes the regulator's market data and operator data to June 2021, Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, assessment of the global impact of COVID-19 on the telecoms sector, and other recent market developments.
Key Developments:
MTN Afghanistan in negotiations to exit the market.Etisalat selects OpenRAN solutions over Huawei for the upgrade of its 2G, 3G, and 4G networks.
Salaam Telecom is the only successful bidder in a 4G spectrum auction, securing an additional 5MHz in the 1800MHz band.
This product will be updated with the latest data at the time of order. Consequently, dispatch time for this product will be 7-10 business days.
Table of Contents
- Key statistics
- Regional Asia market comparison
- Market characteristics
- Market Leaders
- Market Challengers
- Market Emergents
- TMI vs GDP
- Mobile and mobile broadband penetration
- Fixed versus mobile broadband penetration
- Country overview
- COVID-19 and its impact on the telecom sector
- Economic considerations and responses
- Subscribers
- Infrastructure
- Telecommunications market
- Historical background
- Regulatory environment
- Background
- Regulatory authorities
- Afghanistan Telecom Regulatory Authority (ATRA)
- Minister of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT)
- Mobile network developments
- Mobile taxes
- Spectrum
- Mobile market
- Mobile infrastructure
- 4G (LTE)
- 3G
- Mobile broadband
- Major mobile operators
- Afghan Wireless (AWCC)
- Roshan
- MTN Afghanistan
- Etisalat Afghanistan
- Salaam Telecom (Aftel)
- Wasel Telecom
- Mobile content and applications
- Mobile banking and m-money
- Fixed-line broadband market
- Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
- WiMAX
- Digital economy
- e-Government
- e-Health
- Fixed network market
- Major network operators
- Afghan Telecom
- Afghan Wireless Communications Co (AWCC)
- Wasel Telecom
- Other licences
- Telecommunications infrastructure
- Fibre backbone
- Rural Access
- Telecommunication Development Fund (TDF)
- Remote Village
- International infrastructure
- Satellite services
- Appendix - Historic data
- Glossary of abbreviations
- Related reports
List of Tables
List of Charts
List of Exhibits
Companies Mentioned
- Afghan Telecom
- Salaam Telecom
- Afghan Wireless Communications Company (AWCC)
- Roshan
- Etisalat Afghanistan
- MTN Afghanistan
- Wasel Telecom.