Afghanistan

Afghanistan is categorized as a "war zone". Due to political conflicts and acts of war we can't give information about the phone systems like in many other countries. Very few visitors travel there and some of the reports can't be verified. To give you a basic picture about this situation, this article has been compiled.

Basics
Afghanistan continues to be confronted by the challenges. The political and civil stability of the country is a dark cloud hanging over the country. The country is still suffering from the ongoing conflict and multiple difficulties in administering the nation. After many years of war and civil strife there has been the considerable success evident in the creating of a functional telecommunications sector virtually from nothing.

Afghanistan has a highly competitive mobile market that continues to flourish despite the background of the ongoing conflict throughout the country. The mobile sector has been boosted by the absence of effective fixed-line alternatives. There are now 5 mobile GSM operators competing in Afghanistan’s telecom sector.: Wasel is a 6th provider based on CDMA instead of GSM. It's concentrated in the Northern Provinces and Kabul: coverage map.
 * 1. Afghan Wireless (AWCC) LTE
 * 4. Etisalat, LTE
 * 3. MTN Group
 * 2. Roshan, LTE
 * 5. Salaam Network (Aftel)

Roshan and MTN both claim 6.5 million, Etisalat and Afghan Wireless 3.5 millon users each, while Salaam is starting up. A general coverage map of all providers in 2016 can be found here. 3G coverage according to provices is displayed here.

2G/GSM is on 900 and 1800 MHz, 3G started 2012/3 on 2100 MHz and 4G/LTE services have started 2017 on Afghan Wireless on 1800 MHz (band 3) with other providers announcing it too.

Internet penetration in Afghanistan remains very low although has increased significantly over the past five years, increasing from 3% in 2011 to 13% in 2016. Meanwhile 3G/4G subscriptions doubled from 2.6 million in June 2016 to 5.7 million at the end of March 2017.

According to user reports, it's quite easy to buy a local SIM card in a store or outlet of the provider for a visitor when you show your passport. The price has fallen from US$ 300 to almost nothing now. You can pick up a SIM card (at about 100 Afs for locals or 300 Afs for tourists) and recharge cards from the numerous sellers on the street. However, you'll need to find an actual telco office to activate these SIMs and wait a while before you can use it. There seems to a black market for pre-activated SIM cards too.

Afghan Wireless (AWCC)
1st operator, started in 2002.

http://atra.gov.af/Content/files/AWCC_services_Coverage_Map%20Q2_2016.jpg

first operator that started 4G/LTE in 2017 in Kabul only, extended to a few other cities since.

Roshan
2nd operator, started in 2003, claims to be market leader. d the market leader with over 5 million active subscribers and a network that covers over 230 cities and towns in all of the country's 34 provinces.

http://atra.gov.af/Content/files/Roshan_services_Coverage_Map%20Q2_2016.jpg

announced 4G

MTN
3rd provider

http://atra.gov.af/Content/files/MTN_services_Coverage_Map%20Q2_2016.jpg

Etisalat
Etisalat Afghanistan is 100% owned subsidiary of Etisalat UAE. Etisalat is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world and the leading operator in the Middle East and Africa, headquartered in the UAE.

Etisalat operates in 18 countries across Asia, the Middle East and Africa, servicing over 135 million customers out of a total population of approximately 1.9bn people.

Etisalat Afghanistan started its operations in Afghanistan in August 2007. Since then the company has invested more than $ 300 Million in Afghanistan and revenue growth has doubled every year. The company is the fastest growing mobile phone company in Afghanistan Etisalat is providing voice and data services in 30 provinces and 182 districts with more than 12,000 retail outlets.

ATRA has selected Etisalat Afghanistan to carry out Rural Telecom Development project in 17 rural Districts in 9 provinces by building and operating 23 BTS sites. http://atra.gov.af/Content/files/Etisalat_services_Coverage_Map%20Q2_2016.jpg

Salaam (Afghan Telecom)
It is a telecommunication company founded in 2005 and headquartered at Kabul, Afghanistan. Services provided are GSM (900/1800 MHz), GPRS, EDGE, UMTS (2100 MHZ), HSPA+. There are 0.15 million subscribers in 2012. The company is owned by MCIT. smallest GSM provider.