Etisalat Afghanistan, a 100 per cent owned subsidiary of UAE’s telecom service provider Etisalat, has signed an agreement with Afghanistan Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (Atra) to provide telecommunications services in rural and far flung areas of that country.
Atra has selected Etisalat Afghanistan, the fastest growing telecommunications network of the country to carry out rural telecom development project in 17 rural districts in nine provinces by building and operating 23 BTS sites. The company subscriber base reached approximately four million and its network covers 29 provinces in Afghanistan.
The agreement was signed by Engineer A. Wakil Shergul Chairman of the Atra Board and Saeed Hamad Al Hamli, Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Afghanistan.
The agreement is part of 3rd Telecommunication Development Fund (TDF) project of Afghanistan Telecommunications Regulatory Body in compliance with the provisions of Telecommunication Services Regulation Law.
TDF was established to pave the grounds for the expansion of telecommunications services to remote villages and communities.
Speaking on the occasion, Saeed Hamad Al Hamli, CEO Etisalat Afghanistan said, "We aim to become a service provider of quality and choice for the people of Afghanistan and we are in process of expanding our services to all parts of Afghanistan. Etisalat Afghanistan shall continue to move ahead while maintaining our effective and leadership role in the cellular industry of Afghanistan, with our ever increasing network base, infrastructure and range of services across the country."
Etisalat Afghanistan has won the bidding process of deployment of BTS sites and will be receiving $3.4 million subsidy from Telecommunication Development Fund for provision of affordable voice telephony and other data services.