Saturday, May 19, 2018
Kabul (BNA) President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani during a meeting with officials of the Afghanistan Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (ATRA) and telecom sector at his office on Thursday ordered the sale of state-owned lands to telecommunications firms at reasonable prices and in line with pertinent laws, a statement from the presidential palace said.
Relations between ATRA and telecom companies, more investment in fiber optic and other issues like revenue, frequency and bank loans came up for discussion.
Presidential Advisor Asadullah Ghazanfar read out President Ghani’s statement. The president asked the authorities concerned to take following measures to boost investment in the telecom sector:
– Telecom firms be provided lands at appropriate prices and in compliance with the law to develop their infrastructure and gain better access to government installations;
– The Afghanistan Breshna Shirkat was directed to ensure power supply to the telecom companies without any bias in electrified areas;
– Security and civilian organs were instructed to cooperate with telecom-sector investors on removing hurdles and problems.
– The central bank, Ministry of Finance and ATRA were given three months to prepare a policy for loans to telecom sector investors and place it before the High Economic Council for approval.
– A commission led by Ministry of Finance and with membership of ministry of justice, ATRA and a representative from Telecom companies should present their demands to High Economic Council on telecom related taxations.
Meanwhile, President Ghani commended the telecom sector’s readiness for investments, saying government fully supported the relevant companies. He wanted all government institutions, mosques, schools, universities and academic centers to be linked through the fiber optic. Facilities for investment in the sector had been provided, he said. “All possible measures were being taken to extend all possible cooperation to the telecom firms in areas of energy and security.”
