Telecom Lead Asia: Roshan Telecom has secured $65 million funding from International Finance Corporation (IFC) for its 3G network.
The debt financing will assist the Afghanistan’s top telecom player to launch 3G and high speed data services to its six million customers.
Since 2003, Roshan has received three earlier rounds of financing totaling almost $200 million. The mobile service provider already invested more than $550 million in infrastructure that provides coverage to over 65 percent of the population in 230 cities and towns in Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.
Roshan in a statement said it currently offers high-speed data services that are available nationwide and 3G will further complement the existing network infrastructure and provide faster access to services.
Several emerging telecom markets are deploying 3G networks. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) Internet Trends Report 2012 says while India ranked eighth globally in terms of absolute number of 3G subscribers, its 3G penetration rate of 4 percent was worst on a list of to 30 countries in terms of users.
Other emerging telecom markets such as Brazil and China had a better 3G subscriber base as well as penetration than India. Penetration rates in emerging markets like stands at: Indonesia (11 percent), South Africa (21 percent) and Philippines (11 percent), as per data compiled at the end of the fourth quarter of 2011.
“In just a short period of time, the Afghan telecommunications market has grown rapidly and Roshan spearheaded that development. The ability to speak to one another is a basic human need and over ten years,” said Karim Khoja, CEO of Roshan.
3G will allow Roshan to build on telemedicine, e-education and mobile banking applications that are already helping to develop and fast-track the country’s infrastructure.
Among Asian countries, China is leading in 3G networks. For instance, after selling 60 million TD-SCDMA 3G devices last year, China Mobile has set its sights on doubling its sales volume to 120 million in 2013.
China Mobile had 88 million 3G customers as of the end of 2012, adding 60.7 million subscribers over the course for the year. China Unicom had 76 million 3G customers as of last December, while China Telecom had 69 million 3G users.