Alborz residents decry lack of access to internet, call services

MAZAR-I-SHARIF (Pajhwok): Some residents of Alborz district in northern Balkh province complain about their inaccessibility to telecommunication and internet services and ask the government to address their problems.

Alborz is a remote district of Balkh located 85 kilometers from Mazar-e-Sharif city, and has a population of about 80,000 people.

Residents say they travel several kilometers to a high peak in the district to communicate with relatives and friends.

Mohammad Nazar, Chaqnaq village’s resident, told Pajhwok Afghan News Aalborz district residents lacked access to telecommunication and internet services.

“It is difficult to climb mountains during snowfall and rain, and these problems increase in winter”, he added.

Mohammad Javid, another resident, explained they could not easily communicate with relatives due to lack of telecommunication services.

“When a serious problem arises in our village, our friends and relatives do not know it for days, and we do not know their situation due to the lack of communication antennas”.

Mohammad Javed asked the government to address their problems as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, officials also accepted the issue.

Alborz’s district chief Saifullah told Pajhwok: “There are many communication problems, we have no contact with people, if a problem occurs in any area, we talk about it much later because people come to the district center and share their problems”.

On the other hand, officials of Afghanistan Telecom Regulatory Authority (ATRA) assure the residents that they will address this problem as soon as possible.

The installation of 11 telecommunication sites has begun in different districts, ATRA’s spokesman Jalaluddin Shams said.

Shams said the authority was trying to build telecommunication sites and provide internet services in deprived areas.

In addition to Alborz District, residents of other remote and mountainous districts are also facing similar problems.

hz/ma