Afghanistan: Kabul residents complain about low quality internet, high price

Kabul [Afghanistan], November 17 : Amid their country's poor economic condition, Kabul residents have complained about the low quality and high rate of internet in Afghanistan, Pajhwok News reported.
In an interview with Pajhwok Afghan News, locals in Kabul claimed that although telecom companies and the MoCIT have frequently pledged to lower internet rates--a promise that has not yet been fulfilled--the majority of the country's internet quality is extremely poor and malfunctioning.
Mustaq Parsa, a resident of the Kart-i-Chahar neighbourhood of Kabul, expressed his displeasure with the expensive and poor quality of internet service, saying, "I use Etisalat internet; one package costs 250 afs, which is very high and in no other country are such high prices available," reported Pajhwok News.
He claimed that he had to wait hours to deliver a file because of poor internet connectivity. Their work was significantly impacted by poor internet quality.
The residents have urged the Taliban officials to help them with their situation.
Meanwhile, another resident, Hijrattulah, of Kabul City 19th Municipal District, complained against the low quality of internet and accused relevant authorities of negligent behaviour.
"The internet does not work well even for calls, which has caused us a lot of problems. I am currently using four SIM cards, one SIM card works within 500 meters and another SIM card works within 1 kilometer," Pajhwok News quoted him as saying.
He said he had to recharge four SIMs and this caused him to pay a lot of money only for credit Card.
Another inhabitant of Kabul City's 13th Municipality District, Suhaila, stated that while internet usage is so widespread in Afghanistan, many individuals are unable to access it because of financial difficulties. Due to the large number of individuals who rely on the internet for communication, its quality is poor and its cost is expensive.
"If the internet rate goes down and we can use the internet at a cheap price, it will be good for everyone's progress, and the second problem in Afghanistan is that the internet packages are not appropriate and its quality is low, sometimes we activate the internet, but nothing works. The company doesn't give and our money back," she said, according to Pajhwok News.
Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, the country's economic situation has deteriorated. The Afghans have repeatedly complained of lack of basic amenities under the interim government and the country is now heavily dependent on humanitarian aid.