Several citizens of Afghanistan are complaining about the quality of telecommunications services. They say that since the Taliban takeover, the quality and ease of access to telecommunications services, especially the internet, have declined in an unprecedented manner. According to them, poor service quality and frequent call disruptions have created serious problems in their daily lives, work, and communications. These citizens also believe that there is insufficient transparency in the charges for calls and internet services, and that the services provided do not correspond to the announced prices.
In conversations with the Hasht-e Subh Daily, these citizens say that telecommunications companies offer call and internet packages under the label of “discounts,” but in practice,e these packages do not match the advertisements, and users are unable to fully use them. They add that credit loan services in some telecommunications networks, including Etisalat, are shown as active, but when needed, no credit is provided, and after adding credit, the same amount is deducted from users’ accounts. According to them, in several districts, access to telecommunications networks does not exist in a complete manner.
Shamila, a resident of Ghazni province, says that telecommunications networks in Afghanistan are not providing services as they should. She adds that so far she has tried SIM cards from several telecommunications networks, but none of them have satisfied her. According to her, some companies, by taking advantage of their monopolistic position and the absence of effective oversight, have kept service prices unreasonably high and, instead of focusing on customer satisfaction, are only thinking about their own profits.
This resident of Ghazni says: “So far, we have obtained different SIM cards from Afghan Wireless and Etisalat, but none of them have provided good services. I bought a package for 500 afghanis that they said was discounted, but it did not even last a week, while the package stated that it was valid for one month. After that, it suddenly became active again. When I called, they told me that I had kept the option active myself, while I had only entered the activation code. These problems have made using the services very difficult and frustrating, and the quality of services in the 21st century is extremely low.”
Atiq, a resident of Baghlan province, says that despite remarkable global growth in telecommunications and competition, Afghanistan is still at the lowest level in this sector. He adds that there is no real competition among telecommunications networks in the country, and companies act in coordination with each other, in a way that most power and authority remain in their own hands. According to him, the Taliban lack the capacity to manage digital and telecommunications affairs, and private companies are exploiting this situation.
This resident of Baghlan adds: “Afghanistan is a landlocked country made up of many mountain ranges and hills, meaning its geography is not flat and even. For this reason, telecommunications networks do not adjust their services according to these conditions. One major problem in Afghanistan, even in this era, is signal coverage. Leaving remote areas aside, even in a fixed location, we do not have stable signal coverage, and the signal may be weak, good, or cut off, disrupting normal communication.”
Shahir, a resident of Panjshir province, says that telecommunications network services in their province are also unacceptable. He adds that in remote areas and outside the city in this province, there are practically no services. He says: “Neither the internet works properly nor the phone line, but the costs are very high. No attention has been paid to this, and those who live in villages and small settlements do not have proper access to the internet. I hope attention is paid to these prices so that everyone can use these services properly.”
Sultan, a resident of Kabul, says that despite living in the capital of Afghanistan, the poor quality of telecommunications services has created serious problems in his life. According to him, telecommunications companies need to pay greater attention to developing communications infrastructure, including fiber-optic networks and the establishment of new telecommunications stations across the country.
This resident of Kabul says, “We only pay money and get exactly that. The internet is not real. For example, a package that is activated as 10 GB, when we use it, only five GB is actually usable. This shows that the packages are not genuine, and the quality of calls has also deteriorated. VPN services have also created new problems.”
Meanwhile, several technology experts say that unstable electricity and outdated telecommunications network infrastructure, which still relies on generators, are among the reasons for the low quality of services. They also consider the main reasons for the high cost of packages to be the import of equipment and services from other countries and the lack of competition among telecommunications networks.
Farhad Fakhri, one of the experts, says: “Unfortunately, internet theft exists in Afghanistan. Tampered SIM cards and the illegal use of lines cause technical corruption and financial losses for users. For a long time, the creation of filters and restrictions by many companies has worsened this problem.” According to experts, completing the fiber-optic network, creating competition and strict oversight, and reducing internet taxes could help improve service quality and reduce the cost of internet packages.
Currently, the monthly price of internet services on the Roshan network ranges from 600 to 2,500 afghanis. Daily packages are also offered at different prices, with the cheapest priced at 15 afghanis.
On the Etisalat network, internet packages start at 20 afghanis and go up to 299 afghanis for 50 GB. Call packages on this network are also diverse. On the Afghan Wireless network, daily packages start at 10 afghanis for 110 megabytes, and larger packages are offered up to 6,200 afghanis for 200 GB. Call packages on these networks also vary based on users’ needs.
Currently, about six telecommunications companies are operating in Afghanistan. Previously, the Taliban announced that by 2025, the number of registered active SIM cards in the country had reached 23 million. The total number of distributed SIM cards in Afghanistan is about 26 million, a large portion of which have been registered.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
قطع تماس و انترنت در افغانستان؛ خدمات مخابراتی در عصر دیجیتال زیر سلطه فساد و انحصار
