Statement of Afghanistan
by H. E. Mr. Baryalai Hassam
Deputy Minister of Communications
Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan

Mr. Chairman, Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to thank the Secretary General of ITU and the Director of BDT on behalf of the Transitional Government and Ministry of Communications of Afghanistan for convening this very important, Plenipotentiary conference. It give me pleasure to be amongst the leaders of telecommunications who have gathered in this beautiful and historical city of Marrakech to make policy decisions for the further developments of Information and Communication Technologies. I would like to also to thank the Kingdom of Morocco for hosting this conferences and providing the wonderful facilities for the participants.

We have come from a country which near one years ago was under a terrorist regime which was a threat to international and regional peace and security. But nowadays we have a legal government, which is reflecting the views of the people and with the assistance of the international community is bringing peace and security. The Afghan Government is now trying to rehabilitate its war torn country. In this path we urgently require the assistance of the international community and friendly countries.

Numerous promises of large scale assistance have been made but in actual fact very little assistance for rehabilitation has so far reached Afghanistan. We are therefore waiting and hoping that the international community would deliver on its promises to assist in the rebuilding of Afghanistan.

I wish to request in this forum that the basic requirement for the development and reconstruction of Afghanistan is the modern and effective telecommunication system. Many countries have stressed in their statements to this conference that a good telecommunication system is perquisite for a modern economy. We therefore expect from the international community , the ITU and friendly countries urgent assistance in the field of telecommunications so that Afghanistan could effectively take it place in participate in the international community.

Afghanistan is one of the Least Developed post conflict Countries and have just emerged from a very long war situation. I hope this conference will make policies, which will facilitate development of communication services in least developed countries and especially Afghanistan where the communication services are at lowest in the world. The telecommunication infrastructure in Afghanistan was completely destroyed over the last 23 years of continuous war. The country's Telecommunication System has been in the state of collapse and needs a complete reconstruction. The telecommunication sector is also hopeful that with the help of the international community, basic communication services can be provided for the country urban and rural population in the near future and firm foundation will be laid for the long term development process in the country.

Currently, there is only one telephone line per 1000 persons in the country. Most of these telephone lines are for local calls only and cannot make national or international calls. Most of the telephone exchanges are have gone out of production years age and no spare parts are available for its maintenance. The ministry of communications has started to satellite links in between large cities. The ministry has installed five VSAT satellite earth stations in five cities. These facilities have provided international direct dial possibilities. However, due to the low density of subscribers in these cities, it cannot meet the communication requirements of the population in the area. The ministry of communication has not been able to utilize the existing switch capacities as well.

Afghan Wireless Communication Company has been operating in Afghanistan since 1999. The company has launched its mobile GSM services in three large cities.

The Ministry of Communication has recently developed its telecommunication policy which was announced in July this year. The ministry of communications of Afghanistan that with the help of this policy, it will be able to encourage private investment in the telecommunication sector and speed up the provision of the required communication services. The ministry of communication wants to issue two licenses of mobile communication. Two new licenses for wire-line communication systems will be issued under this policy. All the four license holders are encourage to acquire licenses for long distance communication in the country. Foreign and Afghan companies can apply for the license. This policy can be accessed on the website of the ministry of communications of Afghanistan.

According to the policy, an independent regulatory communication will be set up which will be responsible for the regulatory issue of telecommunication services in the country. Until this commission is set up, a directorate in the ministry of communications will be responsible for this work. All these are steps in the right direction but the success of this process depends on the up-to-date knowledge of Information and Communication Technologies, regulatory issues of ITU and the proper management of this development process.

The overall objectives of the ministry of communication has been to provide basic communication services in Afghanistan as soon it can while all its policies will be in support of preparing grounds for smooth future developments in the telecommunication sector and in compliance with the regulations of ITU. Under the current circumstances the ministry of communications of Afghanistan needs the support of ITU for the development of its institutions and restoration of its sector functions. The ministry of communications of Afghanistan would like to be supported on the following issues:

• Financial support for the Telecommunication Training Centre which was previously supported by ITU. TTC provides education in electronics and communication subjects.
• Advisrory Service and training of personnel of the ministry on frequency spectrum Management issues.
• Advisrory Service and training of personnel of the ministry in numbering plan for the country.
• Advisrory Service and training of personnel of the ministry on tariff procedures
• Advisrory Service on the establishment of an independent Regulatory Commission for the telecommunication services in Afghanistan.
• Technical Advisors to the Ministry of Communication on development projects.

ITU has been providing assistance to countries with special needs. I would to propose that this conference make an emergency assistance package available so that the telecommunications of Afghanistan emerge from the present state of collapse and through the restoration of different section functions of the Ministry of communication, firm foundations are laid for the initiation, planning and implementation of development activities. The development and restoration of sector functions of the ministry of communications will enable to establish an effective system of regulation.

I hope that this proposal of the ministry of communications of Afghanistan will be considered by the conference and will make a special support package available.

I am very thankful for giving me the opportunity to make this statement and would like to thank you for your attention.