Afghanistan Communications 2023, CIA World Factbook

total subscriptions: 150,000 (2021 est.)

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: (2021 est.) less than 1

Telephones - mobile cellular

total subscriptions: 23 million (2021 est.)

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 57 (2021 est.)

Telecommunication systems

general assessment: Afghanistan's telecom sector is facing challenges providing adequate coverage to all of the population; prior to the Taliban regaining power, the World Bank and other donors supported the development of a nationwide fiber backbone and there is terrestrial cable connectivity to five neighboring countries; work on the 'Wakhan Corridor Fiber Optic Survey Project' to connect to China has faced obstacles because of Afghanistan's economic issues. (2021)

domestic: before the Taliban takeover in August 2021, less than 1 per 100 for fixed-line teledensity; 57 per 100 for mobile-cellular subscriptions (2021)

international: country code - 93; multiple VSAT's provide international and domestic voice and data connectivity (2019)

Broadcast media

under the Taliban government, independent media outlets have decreased in number and are probably self-censoring criticism of the Taliban and the Ministry of Information and Culture monitors all mass media in Afghanistan; television and radio are key media platforms; only about a fifth of Afghans use the internet, mostly through smartphones (2023)

Internet country code

.af

Internet users

total: 7.02 million (2020 est.)

percent of population: 18% (2020 est.)

Broadband - fixed subscriptions

total: 26,570 (2020 est.)

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 0.1 (2020 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Afghanistan on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Afghanistan 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Afghanistan 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.