VZCZCXRO0566
RR RUEHDBU RUEHPW
DE RUEHBUL #0614/01 0751254
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 161254Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7776
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 000614 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/FO, SCA/A, EUR/RPM 
STATE PASS TO AID FOR ASIA/SCAA 
USFOR-A FOR POLAD 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV AF ECON
 
SUBJECT: PRT/KUNDUZ - FIBER OPTIC NETWORK REACHES KUNDUZ 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Minister of Communication and Information Technology Amir 
Zai Sangin visited Kunduz City March 11 to inaugurate a new fiber 
optic internet and telephone service in the city.  Ministry 
officials project the portion of the national fiber optic ring 
leading through the Northeast will eventually connect to 
Tajikistan's network through the Sher Khan Bandar border point.  The 
new service provides a great opportunity for locals to connect to 
the internet at home, but its potential will be limited by the price 
of service and other structural factors such as access to 
electricity, corruption, and high unemployment. 
 
Governor Welcomes Minister 
-------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Declining a PRT invitation to attend a local shura with 
visiting German Defense Minister Jung, Kunduz Governor Omar instead 
welcomed Minister Sangin to the city, hosting a reception at Hotel 
Kunduz with prominent local elders and officials followed by a 
ribbon cutting ceremony at local Ministry of Communications and 
Information Technology (MCIT) offices and a picnic at Dasht-i-Abdan, 
a popular local kite flying spot.  The Minister visited Kunduz to 
officially inaugurate telephone and internet services offered by the 
extension of Afghanistan's fiber optic backbone to the city.  Sangin 
then traveled to Taloqan to lay the cornerstone of a new MCIT 
building, and to Kishim and Feyzabad, to open newly completed MCIT 
facilities in those cities. 
 
System Capabilities 
------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) According to local MCIT Chief Fazil, the new fiber optic 
voice and internet system in Kunduz City currently has an 8000 line 
capacity, and may be further extended to 9600.  Subscribers must 
reside within 200 meters of a telephone pole.  Poles have so far 
been raised in the Kunduz City center and the "new city" of 
Rustaqabad, to the south.  For a 3500 Afghanis ($70) initial fee, 
subscribers receive a hookup, a telephone and direct connection to 
the internet.  Subscribers are charged one Afghani per minute for 
in-system calls and four Afghanis per minute for calls outside the 
service, such as to cell phones.  Fazil explained that a credit 
system will eventually charge 56 Afghanis ($1) per hour for internet 
access, but for now the internet service seems to be free of charge. 
 A wireless internet system can also be installed at a flat rate of 
2000 Afghanis ($40) per month.  Although the fiber optic service has 
only been available for a week, Fazil says 300 families have already 
subscribed and he expects to have 4000 by the end of the year. 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) When finally completed, the network will be managed by 
Afghan Telecom.  Although the network is currently self-contained 
and connected internationally via satellite dishes in Kabul, the 
Pul-i-Khumri/Kunduz spur off the national fiber optic ring is 
envisioned to eventually tap into Tajikistan's system via the border 
crossing at Sher Khan Bandar, providing one entry point of many into 
a regional grid.  In the North and West, the fiber optic ring will 
connect to Uzbekistan from Mazar-i-Sharif, Turkmenistan via Badghis 
and Iran through Herat.  Fazil understands the cable to Pakistan 
from Jalalabad should be completed within a month.  Running parallel 
to the North-South highway in Baghlan and Kunduz Provinces, the 
Kunduz cable was laid at a depth of 1.6 meters with switching hubs 
every two kilometers.  The presence of the cable also allows cities 
and villages along the path, such as Aliabad in Kunduz Province, to 
benefit from the system. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) The growth of telephone and communication infrastructure is 
a true success story in the North, where cell phone service is 
reliable, internet cafes ubiquitous and the MCIT one of the few 
seemingly well run and effective line departments.  Benefiting from 
a relatively stable security environment, the local population in 
the north is well positioned to exploit large scale infrastructure 
projects such as this.  Positive economic effects, however, will be 
constrained by the other structural factors limiting growth in the 
north, such as access to reliable and cheap electricity, corruption, 
and high unemployment. 
 
¶6. (SBU) With an out-of-system charge of four Afghanis, it is 
unlikely locals from Kunduz will subscribe to the new service for 
its telephone services, as most people already use cheapand 
reliable cell phones.  Popular internet cafes, powered by local 
internet service provider "Insta," charge around 50 Afghanis per 
hour electricity included, making a 56 Afghanis/hour charge 
 
KABUL 00000614  002 OF 002 
 
 
somewhat expensive.  However, women could help drive the widespread 
adoption of the internet in the home as they generally do not visit 
the cafes. 
 
WOOD