Amirzai Sangin, Afghanistan’s minister of communications and information technology (MCIT), has invited bids from investors for the construction and placement in orbit of the country’s first telecommunications satellite.
Speaking to US-funded Radio…
Amirzai Sangin, Afghanistan’s minister of communications and information technology (MCIT), has invited bids from investors for the construction and placement in orbit of the country’s first telecommunications satellite.
Speaking to US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Afghan service, Sangin was quoted saying that the bird will cost approximately US$250m and that the winning bidder will be announced within the next six months.
A spokesperson for the MCIT was unable to confirm the information but pointed to the ‘Tenders’ section on the ministry’s website for upcoming information on the planned project.
A couple of months ago, the MCIT had announced it would licence its orbital slot at 50E through an international competitive tender. The Afghanistan Telecom Regulatory Authority (ATRA), which is responsible for the auction process, has been looking to support both private and public telecoms through this initiative.
“The scope of this initiative is to provide only the space segment and associated control segment. Provisioning of earth terminals and associated terrestrial infrastructure (i.e. the ground segment) is not within the scope of this [initiative],” the MCIT stated at the time.
Interested parties had until 18 March to notify the ministry of their interest following which the MCIT and ATRA were expected to select the winning applicant. The successful bidder has yet to be announced.
In a statement to SatelliteFinance in mid-February, Yvon Henri, chief of the Space Services Department at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), confirmed that ATRA had notified the union of its decision to license the 50E orbital slot.
The regulator “formally requested information on ITU requirements and processes to move this effort forward. We are currently preparing the requested information and will be providing assistance to the Administration of Afghanistan in their project,” added Henri.
