Telephones can be a lifeline

Afghanistan has the largest refugee population in the world and a phone could provide a valuable lifeline to relatives at home.

It is only in recent years that it became possible to make an international call through a public call centre in Kabul.

Before that, people used to travel to neighbouring Pakistan to make the calls.

"There is very little left of the existing fixed telephone network and we are providing international access on those few lines," said Mr Jeffery.

"The key reason for putting a mobile system in place is because there is no fixed line network. The mobile network will provide the basic telecommunications that would be provided by a fixed line."

Going online

The AWCC also has ambitious plan to re-introduce the internet to Afghanistan by setting up a data network.

It envisages internet cafes springing up to cope with demand for e-mail and web browsing.

But with the country in tatters, it may be some time before its use becomes widespread.

"Obvious there are concerns culturally about access to the internet, not only in Afghanistan but also worldwide," said Mr Jeffery.

When the former Islamic rulers, the Taleban, banned the internet there were no reliable figures on the number of people online in Afghanistan.

Those that had internet access tended to go online using telephone lines provided by neighbouring Pakistan.

Afghanistan is following in the footsteps of many developing countries which have embraced mobile phone technology.

Mobile phone use is booming across the world. Leading mobile device manufacturer Ericsson has predicts that almost one billion people will have mobiles by the end of the year.

China is currently the largest mobile phone market in the world with 130 million users, followed by the US with 124 million users.