HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Roshan ( fa, روشن) is an Afghan telecommunications provider, serving over six million active subscribers.


History

In January 2003, Roshan was awarded the second GSM license in Afghanistan, at a time when there was only one other mobile phone operator,
Afghan Wireless Afghan Wireless Communication Company, also known as Afghan Wireless and AWCC, is Afghanistan's first wireless communications company. Founded in 1998, it is based in Kabul, Afghanistan with various regional offices. Headquartered in Kabul, Afgha ...
in the country. Decades of civil wars had left a limited telecommunications infrastructure. Prior to the fall of the Taliban, phone lines were not accessible to the population, and Afghans had to travel abroad to make international calls. Roshan, which means "light" or "hope" in Persian, is one of Afghanistan's leading telecommunications providers. Today, Roshan's GSM network reaches 240 cities and towns across all of Afghanistan's 34 provinces. The network covers over 91% of the population, including the most remote rural areas. Roshan is one of the largest investors, private companies and taxpayers in Afghanistan. It has invested nearly $600 million in the telecommunications infrastructure in Afghanistan. Roshan is also continuing to expand its network in areas where there is no or limited cellular coverage. Roshan employs over 1,100 people, of whom 20% are women. Indirectly, the company has added over 30,000 jobs to the Afghan economy through its top-up stations, retail stores and public call offices. Roshan introduced 3G in April 2013. It was the third company in the market to have been granted a 3G license after Etisalat (UAE-based telecom), and MTN (South Africa-based telecom), waiting to ensure it could deliver the highest quality service. It has 3G service in Kabul, Jalalabad, Kandahar, Mazar, Herat, and Kunduz. In October 2017, a cooperation with the
Wikimedia Foundation The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., or Wikimedia for short and abbreviated as WMF, is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California and registered as a charitable foundation under local laws. Best kno ...
that had already begun on September 29, 2017, was announced, which was intended to provide customers with free access to Wikipedia and its sister projects, so no data volume would be charged for connections for this purpose. The cooperation was part of the
Wikipedia Zero Wikipedia Zero was a project by the Wikimedia Foundation to provide access to Wikipedia free of charge on mobile phones via zero-rating, particularly in developing markets. The objective of the program was to facilitate access to free knowledge ...
project, which was discontinued by the Wikimedia Foundation in February 2018. Accordingly, the existing agreement with Roshan expired on December 15, 2018, without renewal.


Shareholders

Roshan was originally founded under the ownership of the following companies: * 51,00 % -
Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development SA is a Swiss for-profit entity and international development finance institution which invests in countries of East Africa, West Africa, Central Asia, and South Asia. It is based in Geneva, Switzerland. I ...
(AKFED) - Part of
Aga Khan Development Network The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) is a network of private, non-denominational (de jure) development agencies founded by the Aga Khan that work primarily in the poorest parts of Asia and Africa. Aga Khan IV succeeded to the office of the 49t ...
* 35,00 % – Monaco Telecom International (MTI), subsidiary of NJJ Capital (55% - since 2014, acquired from Cable & Wireless) and
Principality of Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Liguria ...
over Société Nationale de Financement (45%) * 9,00 % - MCT Corporation (former U.S. company involved in joint ventures in the telecommunications sector in Russia and Central Asia - now part of
TeliaSonera Telia Company AB is a Swedish multinational telecommunications company and mobile network operator present in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Telia also owns TV4 Media which includes TV4 in Sweden, MTV Oy in Fi ...
) * 5,00 % -
Alcatel Alcatel may refer to: * Alcatel, a former French telecommunications equipment company, which became Alcatel-Lucent and is now part of Nokia * Alcatel Mobile, a brand of mobile phones, tablets and wearables, formerly a joint venture between Alcatel ...
The investments are held through the ''Telecom Development Company of Afghanistan B.V.'', based in Amsterdam, which holds 100% of the shares of the ''Telecom Development Company of Afghanistan Ltd.''. In July 2004, Alcatel fully sold its 5% stake with 3.25% in MCT and 1.75% in MTI. The investments are held through the ''Telecom Development Company of Afghanistan B.V.'', based in Amsterdam, which holds 100% of the shares of the ''Telecom Development Company of Afghanistan Ltd''. As of July 31, 2020,
TeliaSonera Telia Company AB is a Swedish multinational telecommunications company and mobile network operator present in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Telia also owns TV4 Media which includes TV4 in Sweden, MTV Oy in Fi ...
sold its 12.25% and
Monaco Telecom Monaco Telecom is the main telecommunications provider in the Principality of Monaco. The company was founded in 1997 following a decision by the government of Monaco to privatize the state-owned Office Monégasque des Téléphones. Internati ...
sold its 36.75% stake each to AKFED in August 2020, making it the sole owner.


Competition

Roshan is the largest telecom provider in Afghanistan. Major competitors include Etisalat, MTN and Afghan Wireless.


M-Paisa

In 2008, Roshan introduced the M-Paisa money transfer service, which enables registered Roshan customers to transfer money using their mobile phone for peer-to peer transfer, repayment of microfinance loans, purchase of airtime and salary disbursement for companies. Roshan partnered with Vodafone to launch this service and M-Paisa now operates on a Comviva platform.


See also

* List of Afghan companies *
Telecom Development Company Afghanistan Telecom Development Company Afghanistan (TDCA) is a telecommunications consortium in Afghanistan. Its projects include ''Roshan (telco)'', the brand name for their GSM services. The consortium is led by Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development an ...


References


External links

*
''The Economist'': Shining a Light
* Hisham, Hishamuddin (11/3/2007)1500 Public Call Office to Be Established in Rural Areas of Afghanistan, Anis Newspaper

* ttp://www.pr9.net/business/telecom/2071july.html (7/25/2005) Org Infomatics* ''BBC Monitoring World Media''. (2/26/2008) Afghanistan: Mobile-phone money-transfer service launched. * ''Xinhua General News Service''. (3/2/2008) Armed men destroy mobile phone tower in S. Afghanistan. * ''Reuters''. (9/25/2008) Afghan wireless industry plagued by security issues. ''The Globe and Mail'' (Canada), Pg. B11. * Anneli Groenewald. (10/1/2008) CSR and the environment: Developing countries: Social working. ''TT Magazine''. * ''Thai Press Reports''. (8/14/2008) Afghanistan: ADB supports expansion of mobile phone services in Afghanistan. {{DEFAULTSORT:Roshan (Telco) Telecommunications companies of Afghanistan Mobile phone companies of Afghanistan Aga Khan Development Network