Kabul to Get Increased Cellphone Capacity

Afghanistan's first GSM network, Afghan Wireless says that it has completed installation of a new 100,000-line Siemens mobile switch, which will significantly upgrade network capalities as well as add capacity to Afghanistan's capital city network. The switch is currently being tested and is expected to be ready for commercial launch early this month.

Apart from providing capacity to serve Kabul's ever-expanding population, the switch also enables Afghan Wireless to extend service to Jalalabad. Afghan Wireless will redeploy existing equipment to Jalabad and other cities where service has not yet been initiated.

The switch upgrade compliments a total network upgrade program for Kabul that began in February, when TSI, the U.S. parent of Afghan Wireless, agreed to purchase more than US$4 million in Siemens network equipment to improve cellular transmission. All of Afghan Wireless's 28 cell sites in Kabul are now operating with Siemens equipment.

The network upgrade will also include the introduction of a sophisticated billing and customer care system from Argent Networks Ltd., New Zealand, which will enable Afghan Wireless to provide innovative new products, such as international roaming, while keeping service costs low through better network management."

Posted to the site on 3rd November 2003