Installation of a 260-kilometer fiber optic cable between northern Kunduz province and north-eastern Badakhshan province began Wednesday, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) said.
The $6.1 million project, which will run through Takhar province, is being implemented with funds from the World Bank and will run from the Ali Abad District of Kunduz to the provincial capital of Faizabad in Badakshan province, MCIT minister Amirzai Sangin said.
The new fiber optic network is expected to deliver greater connectivity to Afghanistan's neighboring countries and the world, he added, describing Afghanistan as a pioneer in telecommunications in the region.
"We are so happy about the fast progress in the information technology sector. Just as information technology plays a role in the lives of people in the world, so we aim to facilitate any services in Afghanistan which are used in developed countries," Sangin said.
Kunduz officials welcomed the news of the project and the potential for standard telecommunication services in the province.
"Kunduz is boundary province which shares a border with Tajikistan and we should try to have as developed a country as our neighbors," Kunduz Governor Mohammad Anwar Jegdilik said.
"The telecommunication companies are active in Afghanistan, in fact they earn multifold benefits for the people," Kunduz MP Fatima Aziz said.
The ministry added that Afghanistan's fiber optic network will ultimately cost up to $60 million, and will give the government $5 million per month in earnings after it is complete.