U. V. OKIMBEKOV Candidate of Historical Sciences Keywords: Afghanistan, telephony, mobile communication Afghanistan was and remains one of the most backward countries in the world. The civil war, which has been going on for more than three decades, has turned this state into one of the most politically unstable and unreliable in terms of security. Investment of any funds by private foreign companies, as well as international funds and organizations in the economy of Afghanistan remains more than problematic, since the risk of doing business in the country's unhealthy investment climate is very high. Foreign financial resources are allocated exclusively within the framework of humanitarian and economic assistance programs for the restoration of certain sectors of the economy. Nevertheless, in the last two decades, foreign companies and international financial organizations have shown interest in developing telephone communication in the country. And some have even invested in the telecommunications sector. BACKGROUND: PHONES FOR THE RICH ONLY Telephone communication in this country appeared after it gained political independence in 1919. The basis of the Afghan telephone and telegraph communication was laid by the USSR. With the help of the Soviet Union, the first telegraph and telephone line was built in 1927, connecting Herat with Kandahar1. By 1929, the total length of such lines was 2 thousand km2. The backwardness of most sectors of the economy and other factors caused the fact that telephone communication was virtually unavailable to the population of Afghanistan until the end of the 1940s. Only in 1949, the first automatic telephone exchange (PBX) for 1.3 thousand numbers was launched in Kabul.3 The second - for 5 thousand numbers-appeared only in 1957. In 1961, the PBX for 1.5 thousand numbers began to operate in Kandahar. In the 1960s, Afghanistan developed international connectivity.4 Total length of telegraph and telephone lines by 1979 it was approximatel ... Read more