Etisalat Afghanistan signs agreement with Afghanistan Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (ATRA)

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, November 14th 2010 [ME NewsWire]:

• Agreement to carry out Rural Telecom Development project in 17 rural Districts in 9 provinces by building and operating 23 BTS sites.

• The Company provides voice and data services in 29 provinces with more than 3000 retail outlets.

• The Company’s Customer base reached approximately 4 million

Etisalat Afghanistan, a 100% owned subsidiary of Etisalat Telecommunications, UAE has signed an agreement with Afghanistan Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (ATRA) to provide telecommunication services in rural and far flung areas of the country.

ATRA has selected Etisalat Afghanistan, the fastest growing telecommunications network of the country to carry out Rural Telecom Development project in 17 rural Districts in 9 provinces by building and operating 23 BTS sites. The company subscriber base reached approximately 4 million and its network covers 29 provinces in Afghanistan.

The agreement was signed by Engineer A. Wakil Shergul Chairman of the ATRA Board and Saeed Hamad Al Hamli, Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Afghanistan in the presence of Mr. Barayalai Hassam Technical Deputy Minister, Mr. Sadaat, Deputy Minister Administration, ATRA, Members of the ATRA Board, along with other officials of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and Etisalat Afghanistan

This agreement is part of 3rd Telecommunication Development Fund (TDF) project of Afghanistan Telecommunications Regulatory Body in compliance with the provisions of Telecommunication Services Regulation Law.

Telecommunication Development Fund (TDF) was established to pave the grounds for the expansion of telecommunications services to remote villages and communities.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Saeed Hamad Al Hamli, CEO Etisalat Afghanistan said, “We aim to become a service provider of quality and choice for the people of Afghanistan and we are in process of expanding our services to all parts of Afghanistan. This agreement with Afghanistan Telecommunications Authority (ATRA) is in line with our commitment with the people and Government of Afghanistan to provide communications access to the un-served population residing in far flung and highly remote areas. I am sure the efforts of Etisalat Afghanistan and effective role played by the ATRA and Ministry of Communications & IT shall result in enabling the lives while bringing prosperity and social development to the people residing in these locations.”

He further stated, “Etisalat Afghanistan shall continue to move ahead while maintaining our effective and leadership role in the cellular industry of Afghanistan, with our ever increasing network base, infrastructure and range of services across the country.”

It is worth mentioning here that Etisalat Afghanistan has successfully won the bidding process of deployment of BTS sites and as a result shall be receiving US$ 3. 4 million subsidy from Telecommunication Development Fund for provision of affordable voice telephony and other data services.

-ENDS-

For media enquiries, please contact:

Iyad AlZoubi Senior Manager International Media Relations, Etisalat Tel: 0506123568 Fax: 02 6334448 Email: ialzoubi@etisalat.ae