Roshan (telco)

Roshan (telco)

Roshan (Persian: روشن‎) is Afghanistan's leading telecommunications provider, serving approximately 5.5 million active subscribers.

In January 2003, Roshan was awarded the second GSM license in Afghanistan at a time when there was virtually no telecommunications infrastructure in place; national calls were prohibitively expensive and Afghans had to travel abroad to make an international call. In six years of operations, Roshan’s subscriber base has grown from 30,000 to more than three million today, making Roshan the largest telecom operator in one of the fastest-growing mobile markets in the world.

Roshan, which means "light" in Persian, is Afghanistan’s leading telecommunications provider. Today, Roshan’s GSM network reaches 230 cities and towns across all of Afghanistan's provinces. Roshan covers over 58% of the population, including the most remote rural areas.

Roshan is the largest investor, private company and taxpayer in Afghanistan, having invested over US $430 million in bringing the latest and most innovative telecommunications technology to Afghanistan. Roshan is trying to expand its network in area where there is no coverage of mobile. Roshan is Afghanistan’s largest taxpayer and has contributed $146 million in taxes to the Afghan government through to the end of 2008. This has accounted for approximately 6% of the Afghan Government’s overall domestic revenue.

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 has fallen behind in the race for introducing 3G in Afghanistan to its customers and even though Afghans have been enjoying 3G internet for around almost a year now, Roshan was the third company to have been granted 3G license in late September 2012 after Etisalat (UAE based telecom), and MTN (South Africa based telecom) and is yet to provide its customers with 3G.

In 2006 Afghan government fined Roshan USD 1 million for using greater frequency than permissible based on the contract they had with Afghan Communication Ministry, the term called 'frequency theft'. This has been disputed by Roshan and even though the case has gone to court, it has not yet been decided.