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MTN gets Afghanistan licence for 3G
22 June 2012
MTN will become second operator after Etisalat to launch 3G services in Afghanistan
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Afghanistan’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has awarded a 3G licence to South African mobile operator MTN, according to local reports.
Amirzai Sangin, the Afghan minister, told Khaama Press in a ceremony: “Telecom companies need to install 3G compatible devices only to run this service as almost 70% of the equipments are already there.”
MTN, which paid $25 million for its licence, will become the second operator in Afghanistan to launch 3G services after Etisalat, which has already announced 3G services in the country.
Finance minister Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal said: “We hope that such investments attract other investments and remove any economical concerns. Any improvement in the economics depends on such investments.”
MTN, originally Areeba, won the second GSM 2G licence in Afghanistan in July 2006. It was re-branded as MTN in 2008. GTB
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