ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates -- Etisalat Afghanistan today announced the launch of its GSM service across The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, which is commercially available as of today (29th August 2007).

Minister of Communication and Information Technology for Afghanistan, His Excellency Mr. Amirzai Sangin said, “I am pleased to see Etisalat as a new entrant in the telecom market, launching in Afghanistan in accordance with the laws and policies established by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. I wish Etisalat Afghanistan success in competing to provide necessary services for the Afghan people.”

Etisalat Afghanistan’s coverage and wide range of services are now available in Kabul, Herat, Mazar-i-Sherif, Kunduz and Jalalabad. The cities and areas of Kandahar, Ghazni, Poli Khumri, Baghlan and Paghman will have coverage before Ramadan.

"Today is an important day for Etisalat as we extend the number of our operational markets to fourteen countries and export the Etisalat brand into our third market," said Etisalat chairman, Mohammad Hassan Omran. “Our investment in Afghanistan is for the long term, which is the reason we bring to the country our values of openness; caring – both for our customers and staff; and innovation that come with it.”

Etisalat