Afghanistan’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) has announced it would licence its orbital slot at 50E through an international competitive tender.
The Afghanistan Telecom Regulatory Authority (ATRA), which is responsible…
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) has 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, is looking to support both private and public telecoms through this initiative.
Since 18 February, the regulator has been seeking expressions of interest for the slot.
These must include information on the bidder’s capitalisation, its business model, latest technological advances, timelines for adaption and integration, as well as pricing, amid other requirements.
Interested parties have until 18 March to notify the ministry of their interest following which the MCIT and ATRA will select the winning applicant, which will subsequently be awarded the licence for the orbital slot.
“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.
In a statement to SatelliteFinance, Yvon Henri, chief of the Space Services Department at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), confirmed that ATRA very recently notified the union of its decision to licence 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.
