Government-owned Afghan Telecom Company is leveraging the Etisalat network, the UAE's biggest telecommunications service provider, to grow its market share in the war-torn nation.
"We are looking forward to cementing more collaborations with Etisalat in the coming months. The platform is already built and both telcos just need to capitalise on it," Ajmal Ayan, chief executive of Afghan Telecom, told The National.
The provider, which counts 2.2 million people as customers out of a total population of around 34 million in Afghanistan, is currently sharing 60 to 70 mobile towers with Etisalat. The UAE telco, which entered the country in 2007, is one of Afghan Telecom's biggest customers of its fibre network, used to carry internet and telephone signals.
“I am sure it will be a win-win situation as the Afghan market offers a huge scope of growth to Etisalat,” said Mr Ayan.
Internet services, including mobile internet, remain inaccessible to the majority of the population, and penetration rates remain below 10 per cent, according to a 2018 World Bank report. In the capital city of Kabul, 16 per cent of households use internet, but that figure drops to 2 per cent in rural areas.
“Our current market share is less than 5 per cent. That is very low but we target to reach the top spot. We have planned to work very closely with Etisalat to build our capabilities while spreading our network,” Mr Ayan said.
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Afghan Telecom’s wireless network, called Salam, was the latest player to enter the mobile communications market in Afghanistan in 2013, and its main competitors are Roshan, Afghan Wireless, Etisalat and MTN Group.
Roshan is the market leader in Afghanistan with more than 6.5 million active users, followed by MTN and Etisalat with 4.5 and 3.5 million subscribers, respectively.
Etisalat, which was the first mobile provider to launch 3G services in Afghanistan, is in competition with Afghan Telecom, but Mr Ayan says the two companies can complement each other by sharing infrastructure.
Afghan Telecom is also looking to reach an agreement with Etisalat to allow Afghan nationals to use their own Salam network in the UAE at cheaper roaming tariffs.
Currently, the UAE hosts one of the largest expatriate Afghan communities – more than 150,000 Afghanis reside in the Emirates.
Mr Ayan, who declined to share exact figures, said his company has aggressive plans for investment in the next 18 months and top priorities of spending are on equipment, new sites and developing system networks.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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- Premier League-standard football pitch
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- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
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Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
