New News on ANCC
NEW AFGHAN CELLULAR PHONE NETWORK SET TO PROVIDE TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND HELP REBUILD ECONOMY BUSINESS EDITORS/TECHNOLOGY WRITERS KABUL, AFGHANISTAN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--APRIL 11, 2002-- MODERN HIGH
08:01 ET KABUL, Afghanistan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 11, 2002--
Modern High Capacity Wireless Service to Link Afghan Communities
to the World
Chairman Hamid Karzai, of Afghanistan's Interim Administration,
attended the launch of his country's first mobile GSM network on
Saturday (6 April). The new mobile public network has been built and
operated and will be managed by the Afghan Wireless Communications
Company (AWCC), a joint venture between Afghanistan's Ministry of
Communications and Telephone Systems International (TSI). During the
ceremony, Chairman Karzai made the very first telephone call to
Hasina, an Afghan refugee who lives in the US with her six children,
to tell her that thanks to the new network, it would be far easier for
her to stay in touch with her family in Afghanistan.
The project to deploy a mobile network in Afghanistan is the
brainchild of Ehsan Bayat, an Afghan emigre who now lives in the US.
Mr. Bayat founded Telephone Services International Inc. (TSI) and the
company has brought together leading edge technologies from US
businesses, including WorldCom, TECORE Wireless Systems and AirNet
Communications Corporation, to deploy a robust, high capacity mobile
network in Afghanistan.
The AWCC GSM network will provide Afghanistan with national and
international mobile calling, voice mail, SMS text messaging and data
services -- including Internet access. The first phase of the project
will provide services in Kabul, Herat, Mazar-i-Sherif, Jalalabad and
Kandahar. Equipment for Herat and Mazar-i-Sherif has arrived in
Afghanistan and installation is commencing this week. Equipment for
Jalalabad and Kandahar has been integrated in the US and is awaiting
shipment.
WorldCom will handle the international traffic and call
termination for the mobile services and, initially, users will pay for
the service through the purchase of pre-paid re-charge cards that AWCC
is making available in the country. WorldCom will provide a similar
service from fixed-line telephones and access to these services will
be through pre-paid calling cards. Customers without their own phones
will be able to make calls from Public Call Offices (PCOs).
Commenting on the launch of the service, Engineer Abdul Rahim,
Afghanistan's Minister of Communications, said: "This is an important
day for the people of Afghanistan. For too long, we have been isolated
from the outside world and from friends and family who left the
country. But this service will do more than reunite families. It is
the first step on the road to rebuilding Afghanistan's infrastructure
and delivering a better quality of life for our people through
education and job creation."
A team of 30 expatriate engineers and telecom specialists from all
of the companies involved has been deployed in Afghanistan. AWCC
already employs more than 100 Afghans and is actively recruiting more
to work on the next stage of the project, which will see the network
rolled out to the country's provincial capitals.
The development of these new services will create significant
opportunities for local business people -- including the management of
retail distribution outlets. AWCC's long-term aim is for the company
to be run by Afghans. Together with the Ministry of Communications,
AWCC is working to set up a facility to provide local people with the
necessary technical and management skills to run the venture and
stimulate economic growth.
"Many Afghans and the team of telecoms specialists that TSI has
assembled have worked tirelessly to build this network and provide the
people of Afghanistan with a better link to the outside world in the
shortest possible time. But there remains much to do. Our task now is
to begin to extend the network further to better serve all of the
people in Afghanistan, including those in the provinces," said Ehsan
Bayat, Chairman of AWCC.
Notes to editors:
About AWCC: The Afghan Wireless Communication Company (AWCC) is a
joint venture between Telephone Systems International Inc. (TSI), a US
registered company. Ehsan Bayat, an Afghan emigre who left his
homeland for the US in 1980, is the founder of TSI. An associate
company, Network Telecom, is helping provide the technology and
operational support required to implement the project. For more
information, please visit afghanwireless.com
About WorldCom Group: WorldCom Group (Nasdaq:WCOM.Q) is a
pre-eminent global communications provider for the digital generation,
operating in more than 65 countries with annualized revenues exceeding
$21 billion. With one of the most expansive, wholly owned IP networks
in the world, WorldCom provides innovative data and Internet services
for businesses to communicate in today's market. For more information,
please go to worldcom.com.
About TECORE: TECORE(TM) Wireless Systems is the world's most
innovative developer of scalable high performance software-defined
switching solutions for smaller wireless markets. The company's
AirCore(R) system supports the mobile switching center (MSC), visitor
location register (VLR), home location register (HLR), authentication
center (AuC) functionality and incorporates prepaid services and
tandem switching capabilities in a single, extremely compact unit.
TECORE, Columbia, Md., is a global leader in converging wireless and
IP networks and wireless enterprise systems solutions. TECORE's
wireless switching solutions support GSM, CDMA, TDMA, GPRS, IP and
next-generation technologies. For more information, please visit the
TECORE website at tecore.com.
About AirNet: AirNet Communications Corporation (Nasdaq:ANCC.Q) is a
leader in wireless base stations and other telecommunications
equipment that allow service operators to cost effectively and
simultaneously offer high-speed wireless Internet and voice services
to mobile subscribers. AirNet's patented broadband, software-defined
AdaptaCell(TM) base station solutionprovides a high capacity base
station with a software upgrade path to the wireless Internet. The
Company's AirSite Backhaul Free(TM) base station carries wireless
voice and data signals back to the wireline network, eliminating the
need for a physical backhaul link, thus reducing operating costs.
AirNet has 69 patents issued or pending and has received the coveted
World Award for Best Technical Innovation from the GSM Association,
representing over 400 operators around the world. For more
information, please go to airnetcom.com.
--30--pp/mi*
CONTACT: Harvard Public Relations, London
Matt Tucker/Ben Maynard, +44 (0) 207 861 3800
Email: awcc@harvard.co.uk
KEYWORD: FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL ASIA PACIFIC
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORKING SOFTWARE INTERNET
COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS MARKETING AGREEMENTS
SOURCE: Afghan Wireless Communication Company (AWCC)
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