KABUL - The Government of Afghanistan is contemplating to launching its first ever satellite or linking with an existing satellite to improve its internal and international communications.

According to the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MoCIT), the satellite will be sent to space through an international company at an estimated cost of US$ 250 million. It will take between “two to three years” from the time of its launch before the country can benefit from the satellite services.

“About three months ago, the MoCIT sent a plan to the Afghan Cabinet for accessing the satellite services and it was approved,” said Abdul Malik Nazari, a member of the Afghanistan Telecommunication Regulation Authority (ATRA) at MoCIT. “We later announced the plan and initially seven companies showed interest out of which three companies submitted their proposals to the Afghan Government.”

Mr. Nazari said that the selection of the company would take place through a competitive bidding process and the selected company would make the necessary investment, which in turn would be recovered later through service charges.

Alongside fiber optic, which has already been developed in different cities of Afghanistan, the satellite will help improve telecommunications and media communications services across Afghanistan.

Earlier, the Government of Afghanistan announced that the satellite would improve Afghanistan’s communication with the rest of world and help reduce the cost of television and radio broadcasts.

“The broadcast of national and international electronic media is quite limited in Afghanistan. However, the satellite will help expand the reach of media to every nook and corner,” said Mr. Nazari.

Afghanistan has made significant progress in the field of communications during the last 10 years. According to the Ministry of Information and Culture (MoIC), 60 television channels and over 160 radio stations are operating in the country.

According to MoCIT, Afghanistan currently has 20 million mobile phone users and the satellite would help ensure further expansion and improvement of mobile phone services.

Revenue collection from the telecommunications companies is one of the main sources of income for the Afghan Government and this income can further increase with the availability of satellite services.

Mr. Nazari said the winning company would also give a part of its income to the Government of Afghanistan, which would be agreed with the company on later stages.

By UNAMA Kabul