Telecommunication Towers Contracts signs with Telecom Companies
Publish Date
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Ministry of Communication & Information Technology
Afghanistan Telecommunication Regulatory Authority
Universal Access Department
Date: 02nd September 2012
Press Release
In accordance with the provisions of the Telecommunications Services Regulation Law, the Ministry of Communications & IT, and the Afghanistan Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (ATRA) have the obligation to provide opportunities for the growth and development of Communication services throughout Afghanistan.
It is worth mentioning that, due to some logistic problems, huge amounts of money required for investment, and low expected return for the investments, the telecommunication service providing companies always put the remote areas of the country at the end of the list for expanding their telecommunication networks.
Therefore, Afghanistan Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (ATRA), in compliance with the provisions of the Telecommunications Act and the prevailing international procedures, established the “Telecommunication Development Fund (TDF)” to pave the grounds for the expansion of telecommunications services to remote villages and local communities.
Based on the provisions of Telecommunications Act, the telecommunication service providing companies are obligated to make contributions equal to 2.5% of their net revenues towards the Telecommunication Development Fund (TDF) on a quarterly basis.
In 1387, ATRA compiled and finalized the policy and procedures for the implementation of universal access projects in local communities utilizing the TDF fund.
ATRA started universal Access projects in those remote districts & areas where Telecom companies were not otherwise ready to provide telecommunication services. Of these projects some are implemented, some are under implementation (construction) and some projects are cancelled due to security problems in the areas.
ATRA published a tender for the Sixth Universal Access Project, including 220 BTSs and towers, in 185 districts and 34 provinces of the country.
In the process of the bids evaluation, the following companies were announced as winners:
- Afghan Telecom Company: winner for 195 sites
- MTN Company: winner for 16 sites
- AWCC Company: winner for 9 sites
Now that all legal stages for bidding of the Universal Access (TDF) 6th RTD Project have been completed, contracts entered on 02/09/2012 to the above companies. These 220 sites are expected to be implemented in districts and areas in which there are no telecommunication services, or the service level does not meet the community needs. By completion of these projects, about 440,000 of our fellow citizens in the remote areas will benefit from telecommunication services.
Afghanistan Telecommunications Regulatory Authority