ATRA needs adviser for mobile number portability

 Background

The Afghanistan Telecom Regulatory Authority[1](ATRA) was established pursuant to the Telecom Law promulgated by HE President Karzai on 18 December 2005 (amended in 2011) as the focal point for issuing licenses to telecom service providers and generally developing the sector by encouraging private sector investment.

To date, in addition to a unified services license (including fixed and mobile) issued to the government-owned incumbent (Afghan Telecom), four national mobile (GSM) licenses have been awarded to:  AWCC, Roshan, Etisalat and MTN.  Also, around 40 Internet Service Provider (ISP) licenses, plus two Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite (GMPCS) licenses and one (1) Local Fixed Service Provider (LFSP) licenses have been awarded.

On 17 May 2011, the MCIT Minister announced that Afghanistan would adopt number portability as an approach to improve competition into the mobile market, which has now reached 16.2 million subscribers.

The 5-member ATRA Board require specialized technical assistance and training to lay the foundations for the introduction of number portability, specifically including the drafting of an international competitive tender that will result in the outsourced provision of number portability on a nationwide basis for all mobile accounts.