Mobile communications in the East is a delicate matter
Karim Khoja, head of Afghanistan’s largest mobile operator Roshan, on Tuesday accused his competitors of working with Taliban terrorists.
Progress, warmly received in the northern provinces of Afghanistan, in the mountain valleys of the south of the country comes with a squeak. Cellular communication, which has become a prerequisite for the existence of any more or less successful business worldwide, is also in demand in the main producing regions of the Islamic Republic. Southern Helmand and Kandahar, each year giving the national economy of the country an opium poppy crop exceeding that in the whole of Colombia, nevertheless, became a very difficult market for cellular operators. For the past two years, there has in fact been a continuous war in these places between the coalition forces of NATO and the Government of Afghanistan on the one hand and the Taliban militants on the other. The successes of the latter can be judged by the fact that they, in the words of the same Hoxha, have imposed a tribute to telephone operators.
He also accuses Afghan Wireless, Etisalat and Afghan Telecom of paying this tribute to terrorists for the protection of their equipment. In confirmation of his words, Karim Khoja cites statistics: of the 10 cellular towers destroyed last year, only 2 did not belong to Roshan. The geography of the attacks, however, was not limited to the south of the country, affecting even subscribers in the capital Kabul.
His opponents rushed to refute the charges, generally denying the fact of threats from the Taliban. The maximum that they were ready to admit is threats from some gangsters. Although earlier this year, the Taliban demand was officially sent to the offices of telecommunications companies to pay taxes in its favor in all the territories it controls.
Progress, warmly received in the northern provinces of Afghanistan, in the mountain valleys of the south of the country comes with a squeak. Cellular communication, which has become a prerequisite for the existence of any more or less successful business worldwide, is also in demand in the main producing regions of the Islamic Republic. Southern Helmand and Kandahar, each year giving the national economy of the country an opium poppy crop exceeding that in the whole of Colombia, nevertheless, became a very difficult market for cellular operators. For the past two years, there has in fact been a continuous war in these places between the coalition forces of NATO and the Government of Afghanistan on the one hand and the Taliban militants on the other. The successes of the latter can be judged by the fact that they, in the words of the same Hoxha, have imposed a tribute to telephone operators.
He also accuses Afghan Wireless, Etisalat and Afghan Telecom of paying this tribute to terrorists for the protection of their equipment. In confirmation of his words, Karim Khoja cites statistics: of the 10 cellular towers destroyed last year, only 2 did not belong to Roshan. The geography of the attacks, however, was not limited to the south of the country, affecting even subscribers in the capital Kabul.
His opponents rushed to refute the charges, generally denying the fact of threats from the Taliban. The maximum that they were ready to admit is threats from some gangsters. Although earlier this year, the Taliban demand was officially sent to the offices of telecommunications companies to pay taxes in its favor in all the territories it controls.
')
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/27344/
All Articles