Waiting for the Internet

Afghanistan's only Internet café is empty. Located in the basement of the Intercontinental Hotel in the Afghan capital Kabul, the 11 empty seats illustrate one of the many challenges ahead – how to connect this beleaguered nation to the rest of the world. "This is the first Internet café in Afghanistan," manager, Weliash Nayab told IRIN proudly. "Local people are curious about the Internet, but once they see the cost they leave," the 24-year old said. Less than two percent of the customers were local Afghans, he explained. But at US $5 for thirty minutes, it’s not hard to understand why. "It’s simply a question of cost for the average Afghan," Khalil Sharaiman, an Afghan American from Fremont, California told IRIN. Working as a volunteer at the Ministry of Finance, he appreciated the effort made by the newly-formed Afghan Wireless Communications Company (AWCC) in setting up the operation. "This is luxury for me. It’s the only way I can communicate back home to my wife and family in the States," he explained. One year earlier surfing the net in public would have been unthinkable - resulting in strict punishment or even imprisonment - by the country’s now defunct Taliban regime. In addition to television, cinema, and music, the hard line group banned the Internet to prevent what hey called un-Islamic influences from entering the country. Meanwhile, change - however slow - is now in the air. Alex Grinling, AWCC managing director of operations in Kabul told IRIN their company hopes to set up similar centres throughout the country, noting however, theirs was strictly a commercial venture, initially targeting foreign guests and journalists staying at the hotel. In order to drum up business, during the recent Loya Jirga or Afghan Grand Assembly, AWCC waived its fee entirely – a popular publicity strategy. "The ultimate goal is to open a string of Internet cafes in most of the provincial capitals of the country. If the demand is there, we will increase our capacity accordingly," he maintained, adding: "I’m sure the Internet will catch on soon here." Working on a completely wireless network, he maintained AWCC was not dependent on the current decrepid telephone cabling system - something he described as poor. Other challenges ahead included how the Internet would be monitored, Grinling said. "Content could prove an issue. There will need to be some kind of filtering system put in place," he maintained. But for the average Afghan, the wait for cheap, reliable Internet access could be a long one. Aside from some foreign NGOs, international media, the Afghan Foreign Ministry and UN agencies working in the country, access to the net for most people remains a dream. In fact, most people in the capital still don’t have access to a working phone line. However, given the important role the net plays in education worldwide, UNESCO is spearheading an effort to provide Internet access to students at Kabul University and the UN agency has already opened a computer centre at the Ministry of Education. The Japanese-funded programme currently provides computer training - including the Internet - to some 20 people a day. Additionally, students and staff at the Faculty of Journalism at Kabul University and the university library will also soon be able to log in and surf the web similar facilities – free of charge. "The Internet will put Afghans in touch with the world. I only see positive things coming from this," senior programme specialist for UNESCO, Jim Williams told IRIN. Indeed, with Afghans’ thirst for knowledge second only to their hunger for food, the coming of the Internet is inevitable. Yet it remains a resource beyond the reach of many struggling nations. Connecting this isolated and poverty-stricken country with the rest of the world is vital. But with a tiny per-capita income and much more pressing immediate needs, the world wide web may have to take a back seat for sometime to come.