Pajhwok Afghan News08/11/2005By Mustafa Basharat [Printer Friendly Version]
KABUL - Three hundred telephone booths, established by the communication ministry in different parts of this capital city, started functioning on Thursday.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Afghan Communication Minister Amirzai Sangeen said 150 booths had been set up in busy markets while the rest in populated areas of the city.
He added calling cards of 250 and 500 afghanis could be used to make calls from the booths installed in line with growing public demands. A call to a digital and cell-phone number will respectively cost one and five afghanis a minute while emergency numbers like those of police, firefighters and other services would be toll-free.
The telephone booths, made by the German giant Siemens, were purchased for two hundred thousand dollars by the government and installed by a private Afghan company. Kabul dwellers lauded the booths, hoping they would save them time as well as money in terms of local and international call expenses.
Mohammad Naveed of the Afghan central bank argued the step would help those who could not afford to have a mobile set. But another resident Ezatullah said: "The poor cannot pay the existing call charges."
The calling-booth system has been operationalised at a time when two private mobile companies - Afghan Wireless Communication Company (AWCC) and Roshan - are doing a roaring business in the country, despite service imperfections and flaws.
