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AFGHANISTAN FIBRE OPTIC CABLE NETWORK CONNECTS TO UZBEKISTANTASHKENT, Jul 14, 2009 (AsiaPulse via COMTEX) -- The Afghan fibre optic network has been connected to Uzbekistan's telecommunication network and officially inaugurated by Uzbek and Afghan telecommunications officials, Afghan Arzu TV reported. The Afghan telecommunication network is also planned to be connected to Iran and Pakistan in the near future. The authorities of the Communications and Information Technology Ministry [MoCIT] of Afghanistan signed an agreement with Uzbekistan to launch the project via Sher Khan, the river port serving the northern Konduz Province. Work on the Afghani fibre optic network started two years ago. The MoCIT said the fibre optic network would connect all the country's provinces, districts and even villages to each other. Engineer Barialai Hosam, the technical deputy of the MoCIT said the network would provide high quality and low cost communications in Afghanistan. It would serve as a bridge between the Central Asian countries and the Middle East, and it was important for Afghanistan to connect its fibre optic network to Uzbekistan. Hosam said Afghanistan would be linked to Europe and Asia through the network connection with Uzbekistan telecommunication service. The project is estimated to cost US$70 million for the completion of work on the entire network. The fibre optic network project between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan was supposed to be complete within 20 months but because of the deteriorating security situation work on the project was affected. It is planned that work will complete by the end of 2009. With the activation of the fibre optic network the price of accessing internet services will decrease by 80 per cent. Afghanistan has already been connected to Tajikistan via the fibre optic network. Currently, there are five other telecommunication companies operating in Afghanistan which also provide some internet services. (UzReport) rw |