Even if you’re an Afghan Wireless subscriber, chances are you don’t know everything about what makes Afghanistan’s leading telecommunications company so amazing. Read on for a list of seven things you don’t know, but probably should, about Afghan Wireless.
Nationwide coverage
Afghan Wireless truly is Afghanistan’s national wireless network. No other wireless company provides wireless communications services to all of Afghanistan’s provinces. Afghan Wireless has more than 5 million business and individual customers, located in 12,850 population centers throughout the country’s 34 provinces. To ensure that all these customers, even those located in the most remote regions, receive the best possible service, Afghan Wireless operates 1027 base stations and boasts additional transmission capacity to ensure that its network is fail-safe. To date, the company has invested more than 400,000,000 USD to develop its network and systems.
Global connections
Afghan Wireless currently has strategic partnerships in place with 425 other wireless carriers in 125 different countries around the world. This helps Afghan Wireless customers connect with family abroad; do business more easily with international clients, partners, and suppliers; and stay in touch with people at home when they travel. It’s one more way that Afghan Wireless works to fulfill its motto of “Connecting Afghanistan.”
Local employment
A proudly local company, Afghan Wireless is committed to helping build the future of Afghanistan by supporting Afghans with employment, skills development, and training opportunities. The company directly employs over 6,000 people, 99% of whom are Afghan citizens, and it is responsible for the generation of 100,000 additional jobs. Through partnerships with Afghanistan’s leading universities, colleges, and technical institutes, employees have the opportunity to earn post-secondary degrees and receive scholarships towards their accredited education programs. Professional development training programs are also an important part of the career path for Afghan Wireless workers.
The next generation of the Internet
Afghan Wireless has the distinction of being Afghanistan’s only completely IPv6 network. The latest version of the Internet Protocol—which enables traffic, communication, and connection via the Internet—IPv6 has increased available Internet address space to a virtually unlimited amount. It also offers an enhanced service quality that helps with the smooth functioning of new and next-generation applications like e-commerce, video and audio streaming, and IP telephony.
Mobile Money
With the goal of helping transform Afghans’ access to banking and other financial services, Afghan Wireless recently introduced its unique “My Money” mobile money program. Thanks to a fully integrated digital platform, this innovative mobile money network provides a robust and easily accessible range of mobile financial services to any customer with a mobile phone. My Money users can use their phones to send and receive money to and from family members, pay merchants, top up their mobile phone airtime with Afghan Wireless, and receive salary payments.
Great for businesses
Committed to helping Afghan companies do business more effectively, both at home and internationally, Afghan Wireless offers a full range of products, services, and value-add features that have been specially designed to meet the needs of busy companies. Business subscribers can choose from a number of pre-paid and post-paid options, power their offices with Afghan Wireless’ Super Wi-Fi network, get the latest BlackBerry devices, and manage their international communications through services like pre-paid data roaming and international SMS plans.
Corporate social responsibility
Afghan Wireless is a long-time supporter of the Bayat Foundation, a charitable foundation established in 2005 by entrepreneur Ehsanollah Bayat, the founder of Afghan Wireless and its affiliates. With a mission to nourish the lives of all Afghans, the Bayat Foundation has sponsored hundreds of initiatives over the last decade, with a particular focus on the areas of health, education, and social development.
Some of the individual projects the Foundation has supported include the construction of 13 maternity hospitals, which have provided high-quality health care to more than 1.5 million mothers and their children; the digging of new water wells in a number of districts in Kabul to ensure access to clean and safe water for residents; and the donation of textbooks to several post-secondary institutions throughout the country, including Maimana University and Nangarhar University. In recognition of the valuable work undertaken by the Bayat Foundation, as well as his accomplishments with Afghan Wireless, Ehsan Bayat received the 2016 Alumni Achievement Award from his alma mater, the New Jersey Institute of Technology.