Afghan telecom network makes slow progress

Last year, businessmen eager to take part in the reconstruction of Afghanistan cited five factors, which hampered their day-to-day operations: the absence of infrastructure, security, housing and a viable telecommunications network.

Since then, there has been some progress on all fronts. But Ahmed Khan Achikzai, a Dubai-based Afghan businessman, can vouch for the telecommunication network.

His company, Savanna International Telecom, has provided high-speed and cost-effective Internet connectivity to the Afghan Foreign Ministry, as well as numerous NGOs and private companies in Kabul, Kandahar and Jalalabad.

Since early May, the ministry has enjoyed reliable connectivity to its foreign missions as well as the rest of the international community through a dedicated satellite link from Kabul to the V-Sat gateway in Europe.

"From the gateway in Europe, connections are made with all major international telecommunications companies, which allows the ministry to make very cost-effective telephone and fax-calls and reach any destination. The fact that the gateway is in Europe also lets the foreign missions contact Kabul easier and in a more cost-effective way," said Gert-Jan Panken, Marketing Manager for Savanna International Telecom.

"Reliable and high-quality connections with the international society are essential for the ministry," said Panken. "The quality of communication has dramatically improved whereas the costs have gone down."

Savanna International Telecom is now in discussion with the ministry to provide these services to more foreign missions.

Achikzai began conducting "cautious" business in Afghanistan last December through "direct marketing", a fancy term for word-of-mouth.

For the past four years, Achikzai, whose father led the first jihad uprising in greater Kandahar against the communists in 1979, has lived between Dubai and Gulistan, a district bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan. He took over as chief of the Achikzai (Pashtun) tribe in 1990, when his father and two brothers were assassinated in a road ambush by communists.

"We are investing money, which means there is a measure of security in the country now, and people are working. We feel secure," he said.

"Compared to last year, it is improving... The country was devastated over the course of 23 years, so normalcy cannot be restored in a year or two," he said. "Afghans and the international community are working together to rebuild the country. And we have succeeded now to a certain extent." Savanna opened an office in Baghdad to provide GSM and V-Sat solutions and Thuraya services.